Chapter 2: SKETCH OF COMMUNIST SOCIETY -- PRODUCTION
3. People retry the planned economy.
3.1. The old planned economy model
The reason why I deliberately use the word "retry" the planned economy model here is that it is still common knowledge both internationally and domestically that the planned economy model has already failed.
However, "retrying" here does not mean simply repeat the planned economy model under Soviet-style collectivism that actually failed. Rather, I would like to challenge the development of a new planned economy model based on new perspectives and methods. To do so, it is first necessary to review the perspectives and methods of the old planned economy model and organize them.
The idea of the old planned economy model was to develop production activities centering on state-owned enterprises according to plans led by national planning agency, while maintaining the commodity-money exchange system. The aim was to eliminate the instability of the capitalist economy by adjusting supply and demand based on advance planning and to realize stable economic management.
Moreover, the planned economy model of the Soviet Union was characterized by long-term (five-year in principle) plans with extremely high production targets, aiming for rapid economic growth in order to "catch up with and overtake the United States," centered on the heavy industry sector.
However, the disruptions of supply-demand relations under an economic system based on commodity-money exchange is handled after the fact by at-random adjustments in the chain of commodity-money exchange by the so-called "invisible hand of God," in reality, the visible hand of man, and any attempt to plan and control them in advance may result in a breakdown of the plan and cause confusion.
In this regard, Marx sarcastically said in a personal letter, “The wit of bourgeois society (capitalist society--my note) lies in the fact that a priori there is no conscious social regulation of production at all.” However, the lack of such social regulation is the "mechanism" of capitalist society, not "wit".
In contrast, under the communist economic system in which the commodity-money exchange is abolished, it becomes possible to directly adjust the demand-supply relationship in advance without going through the commodity-money exchange, and this is also the only way to prevent overproduction and conversely underproduction. In this sense, it can be said that the planned economy model will show its true value only after the monetary economy is abolished.
3.2. Sustainable planned economy model
The true novelty of the new planned economy model lies first and foremost in a planned economy that puts the greatest emphasis on ecological sustainability – ecologically sustainable planned economy (hereafter abbreviated as sustainable planned economy).
Mass production-mass distribution-mass disposal system that characterizes modern capitalism is no longer fundamentally capable of guaranteeing ecological sustainability, in terms of its high energy consumption, and as long as the capitalist mode of production continues, no matter how sophisticated environmental policies, it has at best the palliative effect of postponing a decisive environmental crisis and passing the bill on to future generations.
It is impossible to stay within the framework of capitalism and try to stop the cycle of mass production-mass disposal without touching the capitalist mode of production. Capitalism, viewed from a different angle, is a system of producing to dispose. Waste itself is a kind of reinvestment, and in this sense capitalism is also a kind of "exhaustion economy" in which capital accumulation continues through mass waste.
For this reason, the once discredited planned economy is returning to be rediscovered as a fundamentally ecologically sustainable economic model.
3.3. Outline of economic plan
In the actual planning, the key is strict supply setting based on specific environmental standards such as reduction targets for greenhouse gases and various hazardous substances.
In this regard, the modern capitalist economy is "desire (demand) economy" that mass-produces goods that clearly exceed actual demand in response to people's desires, and that the useful life of products is intentionally short. It is also a "renewal economy" where consumers are forced to replace their purchases frequently, which also leads to a huge a "high-energy economy" with enormous energy demand, especially in production processes.
In contrast, the new sustainable planned economy is a "supply economy" that adjusts demand according to the supply dictated by environmental sustainability, and a "durable economy" that makes things last as long as possible. It is therefore also a "low energy economy" with minimal energy demand.
However, planned economy is not implemented in all industrial sectors. The scope of the planned economy is basically industrial fields with a high environmental impact, though it will cover most of the core industrial fields such as steel, oil, electric power, shipbuilding, machinery industry, and transportation.
In addition, the scope of the planned economy includes sectors such as the automobile industry and the consumer electronics industry, where the consumption of their products tends to be environmentally burdensome. In these fields, it is necessary to step into planned production in terms of both quality and quantity of products.
Furthermore, in the transportation sector, which has a conspicuous upward trend in carbon dioxide emissions, at least for land freight transport, it is necessary to integrate truck transport with electric or hydrogen vehicles and rail transport as electrified as possible into a single business organization. After that, restriction of long-distance truck transport and revival of rail transport should be carried out systematically.
In order to limit long-distance truck transportation, it is particularly meaningful to establish a system of local production for local consumption of consumer goods. In this regard, as will be touched on in the next section, consumer business cooperatives established in each local area will likely serve as the base for the local production for local consumption system.
On the other hand, in the field of daily consumer goods, with the exception of several essential commodities, a free production system is adopted as it is not subject to the planned economy. However, in a communist economy where the commodity-money exchange is abolished, in contrast to a capitalist economy where an oversupply of consumer goods tends to occur, it is assumed that there might be a tendency for an undersupply of consumer goods, resulting in a relative shortage of goods.
Therefore, with regard to staple foods and other daily necessities, each production company is obliged to store surplus products that also serves as a stockpile for emergencies such as major disasters and pandemics. It is necessary to apply a limited planned economy to that extent in the field of daily consumer goods.
In contrast to the above, for special industrial fields that are directly related to health, such as pharmaceuticals, a special production plan is established based on neutral and scientifically rigorous clinical trials, separate from general economic plans. In addition, the primary industry sector, including agriculture, which is affected by natural conditions such as weather, will also be a separate plan from the general economic plan.
Ultimately, a sustainable planned economy whose ultimate goal is to conserve the global environment should be implemented on a global scale through a integrated community called World Commonwealth, which would replace the present United Nations. We will discuss this theme again in the final chapter.
3.4. Non-bureaucratic planning
By the way, the old economic plan of the former Soviet Union was a bureaucratic national plan led by government agencies, which led to unrealistic desk plans. Reflecting on this, the new economic plan will be drafted based on voluntary joint planning by the companies themselves in the areas of application of the plan.
Specifically, the Economic Planning Conference consisting of executives in charge of planning selected from each communist enterprize called production business organization corresponding to the industries included in the scope of the planned economy will be established, and this body will be directly responsible for formulating and implementing plans.
This economic plan is set on a relatively short-term three-year plan based on a scientific outlook for the environment, while placing its unified grounds on the outline of the world economic plan formulated by the World Commonwealth. It is a normative guide approved by the Commons' Convention, the representative body in each zone which constitutes loosely autonomous territory of the World Commonwealth, and promulgated and implemented with the force of law. However, unlike statutes, it is a flexible norm whose contents are verified every year and amended as necessary.
The reason why the economic plan is relatively short-term and subject to revision at any time is that the the target period of an economic plan, which is influenced by unpredictable environmental conditions, is thought to be limited to three years at most, and it is also necessary to have variable flexibility.
In addition, due to the nature of the non-bureaucratic plan, the Economic Planning Conference must be in charge of the planning, implementation, supervision of the implementation status, verification, and revision.
In order to make this possible, a Research and Analysis Center will be attached to the Conference. At the Center, a large number of "environmental economic analysts" (public specialized qualifications for economic forecasting and analysis based on environmental impact assessments) need to be stationed as newly trained professionals, not bureaucrats, to enhance the support system for economic planning.
