By Josef Gregory Mahoney

Much has been written about Chinas socialist market economy since October 1992， when the concept was formally endorsed. Many have debated its true nature. Is it really a socialist or a market economy？ Is it an unwieldy synthesis of both， or has it through time matured into a manageable system for continued national development？ And relatedly， especially since 2008 （although such policymaking is much older）， what are macro controls and how do they support both the concepts and practices associated with the Chinese economy？

One question that has bedeviled socialists in particular is whether a socialist market economy is a contradiction of terms. From a Marxist perspective， markets are problematic. However， not even radical socialists should view a market as being necessarily bad or evil. This is because in its most basic form， a market functions as a type of techne， as a type of technology that facilitates economic production and exchange. Equally important， however， is the fact that its impossible to imagine the complete absence of a market， even in an advanced socialist or communist society.

Not a retreat

Some have argued that Chinas reform and opening-up period， and further， its normalization of the socialist market economy， mark retreats from socialism. Some have compared it to the Soviet Unions stepping back from communism with its New Economic Policy in 1921. Vladimir Lenin described it as “free market and capitalism， both subject to state control，” and said it would be a“temporary adjustment.” It was not. Rather， it started what eventually became a decadeslong experience with state capitalism， where too frequently some of the worst tendencies of socialism intersected with the worst of capitalism.

For some purists on the right and left， these Soviet “retreats” represented betrayals. Similar remarks followed the reform and opening-up policy that began to emerge in China in 1978， accelerated in 1992， and furthered with Chinas accession to the World Trade Organization in 2001.

For others， these developments were less about theory， and more about solving real development goals in a world where access to advanced technology and capital required integrating with the global economy. In this respect， some returned to Karl Marxs argument that socialism can only emerge when the costs of capitalism begin to outweigh its benefits， and they agreed that China had not yet reached that phase of development. Or， perhaps a bit more darkly， workers must experience capitalism and be transformed by its positive and negative aspects， before they can develop the sort of critical consciousness necessary for advancing to a more advanced form of political economy， like socialism.