When talking about this book, it is suggested that teachers should start with summarizing the characteristics and functions of Roosevelt's New Deal, so that students can deepen their understanding of state monopoly capitalism while reviewing old knowledge, so as to learn new things by reviewing old ones.
This textbook describes two stages of the development of post-war capitalism.
1.11940s to 1970s
Keynesianism advocates that the state can directly intervene in economic life to regulate production, increase investment, stimulate consumption and ensure employment, thus preventing the occurrence of crisis. It is the main economic theory of state monopoly capitalism. At the beginning of World War II, both the victorious countries and the defeated countries were faced with the task of post-war reconstruction. In 1930s, Roosevelt's New Deal, characterized by American state intervention in the economy, was the first successful large-scale creative experiment of Keynesianism in the world history, and the above two points became the social basis for the prevalence of Keynesianism after the war. Under the influence of Keynesianism, the governments of major post-war capitalist countries changed their previous attitude of laissez-faire and relying entirely on economic laws, and adopted economic policies of state intervention to conduct macro-management of the national economy. Constantly adjust fiscal, taxation and financial policies; Nationalization policy has been implemented in some basic industries and public utilities: a wider social welfare system has been implemented to ensure social stability, and good results have been achieved. More than 20 years after the war is called the golden age of development. It is suggested that teachers use specific materials (words or data) of the major western capitalist countries to intervene in the economy and implement macro-control after the war to guide students to analyze this and help students understand that state monopoly capitalism has generally appeared after the war, which is a new historical stage after monopoly capitalism.
After the 1970s.
In the early 1970s, the capitalist world economy entered a new development cycle. In the previous stage, countries developed rapidly under the policy of state intervention in the economy. However, the means of state intervention in the economy cannot overcome the inherent contradiction of capitalist ownership of relations of production. In the middle and late 1970s, the economies of western capitalist countries were in a state of stagflation, which is short for "production stagnation" and "inflation". It was manifested in production stagnation, inflation, serious unemployment, rising prices and slowing foreign trade growth. Western countries such as Britain and the United States abandoned Keynesianism and turned to the neo-liberal policy of advocating omnipotence of the market, opposing state intervention, cutting social welfare and safeguarding corporate profits. Faced with stagflation, the major capitalist countries in the world have made adjustments, implemented economic policies to varying degrees, and began to reduce government intervention in the country's economic life, but they have not completely given up state intervention, resulting in a "mixed economy" in which government intervention and market regulation are combined and state-owned and private coexist.
When talking about the content of this project, teachers are advised to pay attention to the following issues: first, whether it is Keynesian state intervention or later "mixed economy", it is self-regulation of capitalism and cannot go beyond the scope of capitalist production mode itself. It has not and cannot change the relationship between private ownership, capital and wage labor, and the basic unequal distribution relationship. It is precisely because this adjustment does not fundamentally touch the basic contradiction of capitalism that it is useful, but its role is limited. Secondly, there are essential differences between the "state-owned" economy and the "public ownership" mentioned in textbooks, which should be explained clearly to students in particular. The development of state-owned economy in western developed countries is an adjustment to capitalist relations of production. Such a state-owned economy has only changed from the possession of a single capitalist to the possession of a group of capitalists. It not only did not change private ownership, but consolidated it.
Second, establish a "welfare state"
The emergence of welfare state is another manifestation of the new development of capitalism after the war, and it is also one of the forms of self-regulation of capitalism.
The main contents of this purpose are:
1. Purpose and essence of establishing a welfare state: After World War II, the concept of a welfare state became popular in western society. They believe that poverty and unemployment are not entirely caused by personal incompetence or laziness, but by unreasonable social structure. The poor and unemployed are victims of society, and the state should take active measures to help them. It is the requirement and obligation of social justice for the state to provide welfare for the socially disadvantaged groups, rather than arbitrary alms and gifts. It is the individual's right to enjoy this kind of welfare. In order to narrow the gap between the rich and the poor, ease social contradictions, ensure social security and promote the prosperity and development of the country, the welfare state has developed. Its essence is to regard the state as a tool to increase the welfare of the whole society, and to require the state to actively improve the welfare of all members of society through legislation and financial and economic measures. The motivation of the welfare state is not only humanitarian considerations, but also the fear of deepening social contradictions. The purpose of establishing a welfare state determines its essence.
2. The main content of the welfare state system and the completeness and function of the system: After World War II, welfare measures developed from sporadic and partial social security to a huge system, and from a single social relief to a "right" of citizens. Welfare policies in capitalist countries include medical care, pension, housing, unemployment insurance, education and so on. In the 1960s and 1970s, the welfare state system was gradually improved, covering health, old age, illness, death, injury, disability, loneliness, widowhood, unemployment, education and so on, and the government's social welfare expenditure and its proportion in the total government expenditure became larger and larger. In many developed capitalist countries, social welfare expenditure (including public education expenditure) accounts for 1/2 to 2/3 of the total government expenditure and more than 1/5 of the gross domestic product. The welfare system has indeed brought many benefits to members of society in various countries. To some extent, it promotes social equality, shortens the gap between the rich and the poor, and eliminates many social problems caused by poverty.
3. The disadvantages of the welfare system and its scale reduction: The disadvantages of the welfare state system are also manifested in many aspects. In the textbook, only a little excessive expenditure is mentioned. It is suggested that the teacher make a little supplement when telling the story, so that students can naturally understand the historical facts of the shrinking scale of the welfare state behind it. On the one hand, the disadvantages of the welfare state focus on the excessive financial expenditure of the government, on the other hand, the welfare state will bring social moral crisis, which is considered as discouraging work, undermining family responsibilities, high suicide rate and rampant sexual behavior. Simply put, "the poor are poor because they are lazy, and the rich are rich because they are hardworking." The state should not use welfare to encourage these poor people to continue to be lazy, even to drink, have premarital sex, get divorced, become single parents and commit crimes.
After the 1970s, the economic growth of many countries in the capitalist world began to slow down, and even a "stagflation crisis" appeared, which shook the foundation of the welfare state and triggered the crisis of the welfare state. This is mainly manifested in: first, the government's fiscal expenditure is too large, the deficit is increasing, and the debt is high; Secondly, rising labor costs affect the competitiveness of enterprises and economic growth. Thirdly, the welfare state has brought a heavy burden to taxpayers, aroused the general dissatisfaction of the middle class and caused the outflow of scientific and technological talents; At the same time, social security measures with high welfare and high subsidies make workers dependent, do less and quit. All these have greatly reduced the labor productivity of enterprises and society. The welfare system should have promoted economic development, but it has turned into a negative effect of economic development, and the huge social welfare expenditure has increasingly become a heavy burden on the national finance. Governments in Britain and the United States began to adjust or "reform" the "welfare state system" in the 1980s, trying their best to control and cut social welfare expenditure and reduce the scale of the welfare state.
It is suggested that teachers should further explain to students that the welfare state is still the adjustment of capitalism itself from the perspective of social development at the end of this project. For the whole working class, social welfare is not free income or "extra" income. The development of social welfare, like the increase of wages, is limited to the scope that must be guaranteed without damaging capital accumulation, and changes according to its needs. The so-called "welfare state system" promoted by developed capitalist countries has not changed the capitalist nature of social production relations, nor has it changed the relationship between capital and wage labor. It is only a way for the monopoly bourgeoisie to ensure capital accumulation and maintain its rule through the redistribution of national income under the new socio-economic and political conditions, thus becoming an organic part of the whole modern capitalist exploitation system.
Third, the rise of the tertiary industry and the emergence of the "new economy"
The two contents described in this project are still the new changes of post-war capitalism and the new phenomena in recent years, and its influence is not limited to the capitalist world, but universal and global.
1. With regard to the rise of the tertiary industry, the textbook discusses the social conditions for the rise of the tertiary industry, the relationship between the tertiary industry and traditional industries, and the impact of the tertiary industry on society. The conditions for the rise of the tertiary industry described in textbooks are all social progress brought about by the self-regulation of capitalism after the war. It can be seen that it is precisely because of the adjustment and improvement of some links of capitalist relations of production and economic operation management system that capitalist relations of production can not only accommodate the real productive forces, but also enable them to continue to develop. After the war, in economically developed countries, the tertiary industry, mainly service industry, developed rapidly, which changed the social industrial structure. The proportion of output value and employment of traditional industries in the whole national economy has decreased relatively, while the output value and employment of tertiary industry have increased substantially, which is also a new change of capitalism, and with the development of economy and the improvement of social living standards, the category of tertiary industry will expand.
The prosperity of the tertiary industry and the relationship between the primary and secondary industries are complementary. The primary industry and the secondary industry are the material sectors on which human beings depend for survival and development. After the war, with the development of economy, the labor productivity of primary and secondary industries has been improved, and the people's living standards have also been improved. After residents' material life is satisfied to a certain extent, they turn to various service demands, which makes many service-oriented workers independent from the original material production departments and realize industrialization, which leads to the emergence of many emerging service industries, thus driving the development of the tertiary industry. The tertiary industry has transformed the first and second industries with its new technology, further enhancing its competitiveness.
When analyzing the influence of the tertiary industry boom, it is suggested that teachers should be clear about the regulatory role of the tertiary industry boom in economic cyclical fluctuations. The fluctuation of the tertiary industry during the crisis is relatively small, because the service industry provides labor services, and "production" and "sales" are generally synchronized. It will not cause product backlog like the material production department, thus helping to alleviate the chain reaction caused by unsalable products. In addition, the prosperity of the tertiary industry has also increased the number of industrial departments and diversified industries, increased the differences in expansion and contraction of various departments, and thus reduced the possibility of a concentrated crisis.
2. The emergence of the "new economy". The "new economy" originated in the United States, so the textbook focuses on the situation in the United States. First of all, it emphasizes the timely application of advanced scientific and technological achievements and its role in promoting the economic development of the United States after the war. The application of science and technology has always played an important role in the economic development of the United States. Since the 1990s, the American economy has experienced a sustained and rapid growth that was rare after World War II. Since April 199 1, the economic growth rate of the United States has reached 4%, and the sustained economic growth has exceeded 120 months. An article at the end of Business Week 1996 called this economic phenomenon "the victory of the new economy", from which the word "new economy" came. The main driving force for the emergence of the new economy is the wave of information technology revolution and economic globalization.
The "newness" of "new economy" is a new economy-knowledge economy, which is different from the traditional economy-industrial economy. The "new economy" in the United States shows typical characteristics of knowledge economy, and social wealth is directly linked to the most precious knowledge of mankind, which is mainly reflected in the great contribution of the information technology revolution to the economy.
The "new economy" includes three elements: economic globalization as the background, knowledge economy as the foundation and information technology as the leading factor. The essence of "new economy" is informatization and globalization, and the core of "new economy" is high-tech innovation and a series of innovations in other fields driven by it. The realistic environment of "new economy" is global economic integration. The advancement of information technology revolution and the development of new economy will inevitably lead to the acceleration of global integration.