As usual I am behind the times. I did not think that Eric was about to leave the list. Anyway his main use was to provide some information about the official line without ever engaging in any real discussion. Probably he does not think it worth while trying to convert the unconvertible. He can use his intervention on Pen-L to help obtain membership in the Communist Party of China.
--- ken hanly <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > Neither Vietnam China nor Venezuela are > socialist. > Socialism involves the socialisation of the means > of > production, distribution, and exchange, and > production > based on need not profit. > None of those countries have achieved this. Both > Vietnam and China have been moving away from such a > system through extensive privatisation and changing > toward a market system based on profit and > integrating > into the global capitalist market. They also both > have > increasing foreign investment. Venezuela at best is > moving towards a socialist system. What follows > is short description of China's change towards > capitalism. What is wrong with it? > > http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1G1-146354456.html > > The Irreversible Emergence of a Capitalist System > > The last quarter century has seen the abolition of > the > principal instruments governing the management of > the > socialist economy in China. Since the beginning of > the > 1990s, economic planning structures have been > dismantled in a process characterized by the > deregulation of prices, supplies, and distribution. > The reforms enacted at the beginning of the 1980s, > which permitted businesses to sell freely on the > market an unrestricted amount of goods that exceeded > the quotas fixed by the State Planning Commission, > led > gradually to the disappearance of the state economic > plan (Naughton, 1995). Today, more than 90 percent > of > retail prices in industry and 80 percent of > agricultural prices are determined by the market. > And, > despite endemic problems in the corporate governance > system and politicized decision making in the > banking > system, the financial system has also been > completely > revamped since 1978. > > The last 25 years have also been marked by a > considerable diversification of the forms of > ownership > and by a significant withdrawal of the state. But, > for > political reasons, this process has been more > complicated than in other former socialist > countries. > Since 1997, however, the discussion has been more > open > and the directives clearer so far as the > privatization > of public companies as well as the legal recognition > of the private sector are concerned. According to > recent estimates (Huchet, 2000: 3748), between > 30,000 > and 40,000 small and medium-sized state enterprises > in > Blog: http://kenthink7.blogspot.com/index.html Blog: http://kencan7.blogspot.com/index.html
