Zhu Junsheng: Promoting the Innovation of Social Security System with Global Thinking

Whether it is the dispute between fees and taxes, or the dispute between the main body of medical insurance, to a large extent, it is manifested as the dispute of departmental interests. Therefore, we should realize the victory of ideas over interests, that is, limiting power, checks and balances of power and knowing and stopping power.

there was a lot of controversy before the third Plenary session of the 18th CPC Central Committee on how to evaluate China's past reforms and guide future reforms.

Among them, there are two views with far-reaching influence: one is the Chinese model theory, which holds that China's past reform and opening up was successful, and the reason for the success lies in the Chinese model, which is characterized by strong government intervention and state-owned economic dominance. it is different from the western free competition and private enterprise system.

The second is the theory of reform failure, which holds that China's reform and opening up in the past has failed, the current social contradictions are caused by marketization and entrepreneurs, and the reform orientation of marketization for more than 30 years is wrong.

The above two views are opposed on the surface, but they are the same in essence, that is, they both oppose market-oriented reforms, both believe in the power of the government, and do not believe in the logic of the market.

The Third Plenary Session of the Eighteenth Central Committee proposed to focus on the reform of the economic system that makes the market play a decisive role in the allocation of resources. This also means that the high degree of government intervention and the dominance of the state-owned economy are not only the reasons for China's economic miracle, on the contrary, they are the important reasons for the contradictions and unfairness in Chinese society.

From the trend of China's economic growth in the past 60 years, we can find three important turning points: first, at the third Plenary session of the Eleventh Central Committee, China's market-oriented reform began. Second, Deng Xiaoping's southern tour speech, market-oriented reform to restart. The third is to join the WTO and enter a new period of opening up to promote reform.

The experience and lessons of history tell us that in order to avoid the pace of reform being hindered by anti-reform mentality and policies, we must adhere to the overall thinking. First, adhere to market-oriented reform. Make the market play a decisive role in the allocation of resources. The second is to reduce government control and intervention. Minimize the central government's management of micro-affairs, directly face the grassroots, with a large amount and a wide range of economic and social matters that are more convenient and effective for local management, and all local and grassroots management are delegated. Three is to achieve the rule of law. To build China under the rule of law, we must adhere to the rule of law, rule by law, and administration according to law, and adhere to the integrated construction of a country under the rule of law, a government under the rule of law, and a society under the rule of law.

In the field of social security, we should also adhere to the overall thinking and transcend the struggle of ideas, departments and interests. Whether it is the dispute between fees and taxes, or the dispute between the main body of medical insurance, to a large extent, it is manifested as the dispute of departmental interests. Therefore, we should realize the victory of ideas over interests, that is, limiting power, checks and balances of power and knowing and stopping power.

In recent years, China's social security coverage has expanded rapidly, and its development is mainly driven by the strong administrative promotion and financial subsidies to pry demand. But this pattern of quantitative expansion poses at least two quality problems.

First, the quality of service to the insured needs to be improved. The institutional and institutional factors restricting quality improvement are mainly the lack of decentralization. One is the lack of vertical decentralization. Local governments in the vertical power structure with the central government to obtain the legitimate power space is not enough, it is difficult to release the local governance capacity and meet the needs of local citizens; two is the lack of horizontal decentralization. On the basis of obtaining the legitimate power space, the government has not dispersed the public service function to the market and society balanced with the public sector.

Second, the adaptability to economic and social development needs to be improved. High rates and high fees make businesses and individuals stressed. A survey of some places shows that social insurance contributions in some areas account for more than 20% of the average labor cost of enterprises, which has become an important factor in the increase of enterprise costs. At the same time, the high contribution burden also reduces the individual's ability to pay, directly leading to a large number of broken insurance.

Therefore, in order to improve the quality of social security services and reduce management costs, system and mechanism innovation must be carried out. Vertical decentralization is to be achieved, I .e., the subject of responsibility is gradually sinking and constantly unbundling. At the same time, in order to achieve horizontal decentralization, we should first decentralize powers within the system, then decentralize powers outside the system, first separate management and management, and then open competition to the market and society.

In addition, it is necessary to reduce the possible side effects of social security on economic and social development. For a long time, the theoretical research and practice departments have paid attention to the improvement of the coverage of the social security system and the improvement of the security level, but the investigation of its possible adverse consequences is not enough, and the economic adaptability of social security is lack of systematic examination. In order to realize the sustainable development of social security, it is necessary to evaluate its economic adaptability, study the moderate level of macro level and the burden of enterprise social insurance at the micro level. On the basis of the return of government responsibility, we should effectively reduce the social security rate, reduce the burden on enterprises and residents, and increase economic freedom and vitality.

Buchanan had distinguished between the choice of rules and the choice under them. For social security, we should not only choose under the existing rules, but also think about the choice of the rules themselves. We should, like Bastia, seriously explore the "visible" and "invisible" in the construction of the current social security system, that is, we need to make such a choice: to pursue the benefits of the present, regardless of the huge disadvantages that follow, or to risk the small misfortune of the present and pursue the greater benefits of the future.

As Friedman pointed out, we should leave more wealth in enterprises, in the private sector, and in individuals, so that the public can "spend their own money on themselves" and solve the most basic guarantee through the market mechanism. At the same time, the public is encouraged to "spend their own money on others" and to maximize their limited generosity beyond self-interest and self-love through charity and other means. At the same time, it is necessary to prudently develop the compulsory social insurance of "spending other people's money on others", and eliminate the phenomenon of "spending other people's money on oneself" that may occur in this process through the rule of law.

source: China Science Daily | Time: January 20, 2014 | Editor: Zhai Tianchang