What is Supply-Side Economics?

Supply economics is a school of economics that appeared in the United States in the early 1970s. It is named for emphasizing the importance of supply (ie, production) in the economy. It can also be divided into radical supply economics represented by American economists such as Robert Mendel, Arthur Laffer, Waniski, Norman Tour, and Paul Roberts, and M. Feld Stein (M. Feldstein) represented moderate economics of supply.

Supply economics

Generally speaking, the economics of supply refers to the former. The main theoretical views of this school are:

First, the key issue for the U.S. economy today is supply, that is, low productivity and insufficient supply.

The research object of any subject is determined by the special contradiction of the subject object. As Comrade Mao Zedong pointed out, "The distinction of scientific research is based on the special contradiction of the scientific object. Therefore, for A certain contradictory study peculiar to the field of a certain phenomenon constitutes the object of a certain discipline. " That is to say, the establishment of the research object of a science is to see what kind of contradictions the science is going to study and what phenomena to examine.

Supply economics, as an independent new economic applied discipline of social science, needs to be studied and examined.

To study any socio-economic issue, we must use certain research methods. Any science has its own research methods. In the process of supply economics research, we should pay attention to the characteristics of the following methods:

(1) Persist in combining inheritance and innovation. To this end, on the one hand, we should strive to absorb the latest domestic and foreign research results, and strive to consult the relevant domestic and foreign literature and materials that we can find so far in order to broaden the research field. Because in every field of economics research, every small step forward is based on the predecessors. On the other hand, scientific research is valuable for innovation. To play its role of economics, economics must seek common ground while reserving differences, and then strive for differences. This is just as Lenin said: "Judgement of the achievements of history is not based on the fact that historical activists did not provide what modern needs, but that they provided something newer than their predecessors." Therefore, in the research, we should pay attention to the research Innovative, forward-looking and developmental, so as to continuously enrich and develop the theoretical achievements of predecessors.

(2) Adhere to the combination of normative analysis and empirical analysis. Among them, normative analysis refers to the basis of certain value judgments, proposes certain standards as the scale of analysis problems, establishes the premise of economic theory, serves as the basis of economic policy, and studies how To meet these standards. Empirical analysis is an important supplement to normative analysis. It analyzes and predicts people s economic behavior and consequences on the premise of making assumptions related to economic behavior. It solves the problem of the realistic and reasonable degree of the economic system. Objectivity, reality, and verifiability.

(3) Adhere to the combination of comparability and independence so as to pay attention to drawing lessons from international experience and also to study China's economic practices. We must adhere to Marx's theory as the basis and earnestly absorb the beneficial results of western economic theories, and we must also pay attention to the characteristics of China's national conditions, so that the theoretical research results at home and abroad can be combined with domestic actual conditions.

(D) adhere to the coordination of general analysis and key analysis On the one hand, in general analysis, adhere to the system analysis method. Hegel once criticized the research method of explaining history for a single reason. He said, "Of course, it is clever to describe history as an Aberdeen pattern painting, because the Aberdeen pattern painting is a big flower It grows on slender stems. However, this explanation of history is very superficial. " On the other hand, we should be good at grasping contradictions and the main aspects of contradictions, so as to attach importance to key analysis.

(5) Adhere to the link between theoretical research and policy research. In theoretical research, we should pay attention to both the characteristics of analysis and analysis of specific operable content to communicate the connection between theory and practice. Because the main purpose of economic theory research is to understand the economic operation of one or several countries and to find effective policies to solve economic problems. From the perspective of the history of economics, the introduction of any kind of economic theory and the formation of the system are based on the actual problems encountered in the socio-economic development at the time as the initial entrance. As Adam Smith said, "the great goal of political economy is to increase the prosperity of our country." "The purpose is to become rich and rich." The great Victorian economist Alfred Marshall argued that economics "is not a concrete truth, but an engine of truth." Specifically, it is how to solve China's real economic problems and pave the way for China's economic growth. This is as pointed out by Comrade Jiang Zemin in the report of the 10th National Congress of the Communist Party of China. Theoretical innovation "must focus on the practical problems of China's reform, opening up and modernization, center on what we are doing, and focus on the application of Marxist theory Focusing on the theoretical thinking of practical problems, focusing on new practices and new developments. "

In addition, we should insist on the combination of macro-level analysis and micro-level analysis, horizontal analysis and vertical analysis, and so on.