Methods of economic policy include: Instruments of state economic policy

Economic regulation system

The implementation of economic policy is possible only by using a set of measures and instruments that form the mechanism of government influence on the economy. To be able to use them rationally, knowledge of the structure of these measures is required. Depending on the selected criteria, there are several options for their classification. In particular, according to the method of functioning, methods of direct and indirect influence on the economy differ.

Methods of direct influence involve such regulation by the state, in which economic entities are forced to come to decisions based not on independent economic choice, but on state regulations.

As an example, let us cite tax legislation, legal rules in the field of depreciation, and budgetary procedures for public investments. Direct methods often have a high degree of effect due to the rapid achievement of economic results. However, they have a serious drawback - they interfere with the market process.

Methods of indirect influence are manifested in the fact that the state does not directly influence the decisions made by economic entities. It only creates the prerequisites for subjects to gravitate towards those options that correspond to the goals of economic policy when independently choosing economic decisions.

The advantages of these methods of influencing the economy are that they do not disrupt the market situation and do not introduce an unexpected imbalance into a state of dynamic equilibrium. The disadvantage is a certain time lag observed between the adoption of measures by the state, their perception by the economy and the resulting changes in economic results.

Let us now turn to another, very important classification of the methods considered. The criterion of the approach is organizational and institutional. This list includes: administrative, economic, institutional methods (Fig. 18.5).

Administrative measures

The set of administrative levers covers those regulatory actions that are associated with the provision of legal infrastructure. The goal of the measures taken is to create the most reasonable legal framework conditions for the private sector. Their function is to ensure a stable legal environment for business life, protect the competitive environment, preserve property rights and the ability to freely make economic decisions.

Rice. 18.5. System of economic policy instruments

Administrative measures, in turn, are divided into measures of prohibition, permission, and coercion.

The degree of activity in the application of administrative measures may vary depending on the area of the economy. They are most persistently manifested now in the field of environmental protection, as well as in the field of social protection of poorer segments of the population.

In the Russian economy, two trends can be traced in relation to administrative methods:

As a result of the intensified political confrontation between power structures, the effectiveness of administrative measures has significantly decreased;

The legacy of the command economy era has led to a certain set of teeth in relation to administrative levers. The turn of the economy towards a market system gave rise to a natural desire to renounce them. As a result of the pendulum effect, the withdrawal was excessively strong.

Economic measures

Economic instruments include those government actions that are not so much prescriptive as they influence certain aspects of the market process. We can talk about methods of influencing aggregate demand, aggregate supply, the degree of centralization of capital, social and structural aspects of the economy. Economic measures include:

Financial (budgetary, fiscal) policy;

Monetary policy;

Programming;

Forecasting.

The concept of “financial policy” is a capacious category. It reflects two approaches. On the one hand, it represents a mechanism for implementing economic policy goals. On the other hand, the implementation of financial measures is one of the constituent elements of the general economic policy as such.

The category “monetary policy” has a similar multifaceted nature. Compared to financial measures, monetary measures exhibit more of an indirect effect. This is due, for example, to the fact that financial policy is carried out primarily by the Ministry of Finance, an integral part of the government. Monetary policy is implemented by the Central Bank, which, as a rule, has relative independence from the legislative and executive authorities.

In the current market economy, it is customary, as a rule, to first consider the possibility of monetary measures, and then financial ones. This is due to the fact that the use of monetary policy largely reflects the typical relationship between market and government principles in the economy. A mature national economy mainly involves the indirect influence of the state on economic entities. This preserves freedom to make private economic decisions.

In a transforming economy (or in the event of a crisis), the ratio of methods may be different. The financial (i.e. direct) aspect of regulation sometimes comes to the fore.

The preparation of programs and forecasts reflects mainly an indirect version of government regulation. The programs are advisory in nature for the private sector. This process is focused mainly on providing the business community with important economic information. In both cases (when drawing up programs - in a more active form), the state can indirectly prompt and encourage entrepreneurs to take action. However, businessmen make decisions about them themselves.

Institutional measures

When characterizing methods of state influence, one can also emphasize their organizational and institutional form.

The concept of “institutionality” is used relatively little in domestic scientific circulation. Unfortunately, it is even less perceived by the economic thinking of the population. Meanwhile, the development of the economy in a market-legal version puts forward the need for a much more active use of this term. It reflects the fact that the phenomena of economic life in a developed state of law lose their random nature. A network of certain legal, ethical, psychological, organizational norms and customs seems to be superimposed on the surface of economic reality. Economic policy itself is a system of organizationally formalized actions and traditions.

Such actions associated with a relatively long-standing phenomenon create the concept of “institution.” According to W. Hamilton, institutions are a verbal symbol to better describe a group of social customs. They mean a predominant and permanent way of thinking or acting that has become a habit for a social group or a custom for a people. As an example, let’s name: “the institution of law”, “the institution of property”.

Among the options for the spread of institutional forms in modern conditions, we note:

Formation of executive structures of state power, the immediate task of which is the practical implementation of government goals;

Creation and maintenance of state property, i.e. public sector;

Preparation of economic programs and economic forecasts;

Support for economic research centers (with different forms of ownership), economic information institutes, chambers of commerce and industry, various economic councils and unions;

Ensuring the functioning of institutions of advisers, consultants, expert councils on economic problems;

Legal and information support for business and trade unions, rational forms of their interaction;

Participation in the creation of forms of economic integration, organization of regular international meetings on economic issues (for example, representatives of the G7 group).

The institutional aspect of state regulation in Russia has always manifested itself with a certain specificity. It was implemented in domestic practice mainly in the form of creating a large number of institutions themselves and, to a lesser extent, legal institutions. Suffice it to remember that in the USSR there were about 900 ministries, departments, and departments. Currently, changes are taking place in the previous emphasis of the institutional approach.

Financial mechanism of economic policy

Finance is one of the most complex categories in economics. In general, this is a set of cost flows associated with the distribution and use of monetary resources. In the traditional course of domestic economic science, “finance” was usually understood as a system of industrial relations, rather than the movement of funds itself.

The process of operating the financial system to achieve certain goals at the state level is financial policy. This concept is multifaceted. Regulation of macroeconomic equilibrium, achieving stabilization with the help of income and expenses is usually called “fiscal policy”. Using financial resources, the state also participates in solving other problems, for example, social distribution ones. The full range of all tasks carried out through public finance forms the category of “financial policy” (of which fiscal policy is therefore one element).

What is government spending? This term is usually understood as the state’s expenditures on the acquisition of material goods and services related to the satisfaction of social needs. The main objective of spending policy is to influence aggregate demand. This influence is quite direct.

Economic theory poses the question: what goods should the state spend on producing and delivering goods? Before answering, we should once again emphasize the socio-political idea on which economics is based. The optimal production of goods is mainly ensured by the market system itself. And only if the mechanism of the market system fails does the state intervene in the process. At the same time, the development of a market economy has formed the following pattern: the state spends funds on creating mainly only public goods (primarily of a social nature) and eliminates the negative external effects that arise from the consumption of a number of private goods (for example, by implementing measures to restore the environment) .

“Government revenues” are usually understood as current cash and property transfers (transfers) from the private sector to the state. The transfer of funds may be made on a consideration basis or without any consideration. The challenges facing income policy can be summarized into two groups:

Raising funds for the formation of a financial fund, with the help of which it is possible to influence the macroeconomic balance;

Achieving a regulatory effect through the technique of resource extraction itself (for example, manipulating tax rates).

The practice of a developed market economy shows that income policy has a stronger regulatory effect compared to expenditure policy. The explanation is to a large extent socio-psychological in nature. A person perceives the fact of withdrawal more emotionally than the case of shortfall. The stick is more powerful than the carrot!

Forms of receiving government revenues

There are various forms and methods of accumulating government revenues. In the most general form, the collection of financial resources is usually divided into tax and non-tax revenues. The latter includes fees and charges. The most developed form of forced withdrawal of funds (without counter-service) is taxes. This is the most important source of state funds. Through taxes, developed countries mobilize from 18-21% of GDP in Japan and the USA, up to 37% in Sweden and up to 50% in Denmark.

In general, the tax system as a set of forms and methods of collecting financial resources is a complex phenomenon. It contains a deep contradiction: on the one hand, it is necessary to ensure the withdrawal of sufficiently substantial financial resources from economic entities, and on the other hand, to prevent a decrease in their business activity. The solution to this paradox is achieved through a reasonable compromise.

The tax system achieves rationality, according to the German economist H. Haller, if the following conditions are met:

Taxation should be structured so that the state’s costs for its implementation are as low as possible (orientation to the so-called “principle of low-cost taxation”);

The collection of taxes should ensure that the taxpayer's costs associated with the payment procedure are as low as possible (the principle of low-cost tax payment);

Paying taxes should be as little a burden as possible for the taxpayer so as not to impair his economic activity (the principle of limiting the burden of taxes);

Taxation should not be an obstacle either to the “internal” rational organization of production or to its orientation towards the structure of needs, i.e. “external” rationality;

The process of receiving taxes should be organized so that it can contribute to the greatest extent (through accumulated financial resources) to the implementation of economic and employment policies (market efficiency);

This process should influence the distribution of income in order to make it more fair (distributive efficiency);

In the process of determining the “tax solvency” of individuals and clarifying settlements with them, one should minimally require the presentation of information affecting the personal life of citizens (respect for the private sphere);

It is necessary to ensure that the combination of taxes forms a single system in which each tax has its own specific purpose. At the same time, neither mutual “overlap” of taxes nor the presence of “hatchholes” between them (internal isolation) should be allowed.

The stabilizing role of taxes

In a market economy, taxes automatically play an important stabilizing role. According to the definition of the German economist F. Neumark, the concept of “automatic stabilizer” (or “built-in flexibility”) is a counter-cyclical internal adaptability of the state budget, manifesting itself automatically, without any measures, and arising from the nature of certain income or expenses.

The process of countercyclical adjustment of taxes is as follows. If the market overheats, the volume of national income increases. In the presence of a progressively structured taxation scale, the size of payments to the budget increases, which has a restraining effect on further economic activity. In addition, the increased volume of the state budget makes it possible, with the help of social policy, to raise the level of consumption of low-income groups and thereby increase aggregate demand, bringing it closer to the increased aggregate supply. In conditions of falling market conditions, the opposite happens.

However, in order for the process of automatic adaptation to take place, a prerequisite is necessary in the form of a high degree of response of the tax system to the market situation. Different taxes have different degrees of market elasticity. In turn, this is due to the methods of constructing tax rates, the basis itself (i.e., the object of taxation), as well as the technique of collecting taxes.

Those taxes that automatically follow the course of the market situation have increased anti-cyclical properties, due to the basis on which they are built (income, turnover, profit, etc.). Since in developed industrial countries the core of the tax system is taxes on income, profit and turnover, these tax systems have an increased degree of market elasticity.

In connection with the above, in financial theory it is customary to use the elasticity of tax revenues. It is calculated as the ratio:

Percentage (or absolute) change in tax revenue/percentage (or absolute) change in national income *100

In the German economy, for example, the degree of tax response is 1.5. This means that a 1% increase or decrease in national income results in a 1.5% increase or decrease in tax revenue.

General conclusion: the degree of response of the entire tax system to the market situation depends on the share of individual types of taxes in it. It is believed that the system has an effective market-stabilizing effect when its elasticity level is equal to 1. This occurs if the value of income and corporate taxes in the tax system is sufficiently high.

The regulatory capabilities of the tax system depend not only on the totality of their types, but also on the rationally determined level of tax rates. Let us give typical examples typical for developed countries (Table 18.1).

Table 18.1 Tax rates in various OECD countries and in Russia (1997,%)

When talking about the impact of tax policy on general economic indicators, one economic aspect should be taken into account. We are talking about the so-called “lag effect”. This phenomenon is reflected in the fact that it takes a certain time for financial policy intervention to cause the expected change in the economy.

The degree of the regulatory role of taxes is influenced - and rather ambiguously - by another circumstance. In the process of paying taxes, there are cases of economic entities avoiding taxation. Underpayment of taxes can occur in two ways: legal and illegal forms. The legal option involves the use by the taxpayer of benefit systems or a certain degree of conventionality of regulatory requirements (real life, as is known, is always more complicated than any prescription made in the form of a certain generalized scheme).

To summarize the characteristics of the financial mechanism, we note that a high degree of built-in flexibility of the financial system is considered desirable for the economy. Built-in financial stabilizers have the positive aspect that they make an accurate diagnosis and forecast of the market situation less necessary. At the same time, the advantages of built-in stabilizers should not lead to an overestimation of their capabilities. These stabilizers, as a rule, soften market fluctuations, but cannot completely prevent them.

Credit mechanism of economic policy

In the process of economic regulation, the state widely uses monetary measures. Like the financial mechanism, they have a dual aspect of expression. On the one hand, this is an integral part of the entire complex of economic policies. At the same time, credit regulation acts as a kind of instrument of government intervention in the economy.

In its content, credit policy is a set of activities of the Central Bank in the field of money circulation and credit to influence the macroeconomic process. The purpose of these measures acts as a partial refraction of the general state line aimed at ensuring balanced and sustainable development of the economy.

The subject of credit policy is the Central Bank (CB). According to the law, it fulfills the government's goals, but at the same time is not, as a rule, a government institution. The Central Bank has a certain degree of independence. Such rights are given to him on the basis of the principle of separation of powers. As the experience of Western countries shows, this institution, which has relative independence, is not a resigned executor of the will of the state. In a difficult economic situation, the government cannot demand that the credit center solve its financial problems by issuing additional money supply.

The set of tasks of the Central Bank in implementing economic policy contains two directions. The first is to provide the national economy with a full-fledged currency system. A stable currency is a critical element of market infrastructure. The second direction is due to the fact that the Central Bank is prescribed the function of influencing the lending activities of private business (commercial) banks in the interests of macroeconomic policy. In the sphere of monetary circulation, the state pursues its policy, thus using cooperation with this regulatory partner. A kind of tandem is formed: “the state - the central bank.” Practice shows the high effectiveness of this cooperation.

Let's make a comparison: in the production sector, the state does not have such an effective lever of influence. And this is no coincidence. This sector must have a high degree of freedom and independence, which is required by market nature itself. The state focuses on indirect ways of influence - through monetary circulation, which is a kind of circulatory system of the economy.

Tools

Operating in the sphere of monetary circulation, the Central Bank uses a number of instruments. Most of them have an indirect impact. This is an analogy to the general principles of state action in the economy. However, some credit center operations can also be carried out in a more direct manner (a similar example is government subsidies).

In general, the structure of measures taken by the Central Bank can be represented by the following diagram (Fig. 18.6).

Rice. 18.6. Credit policy of the Central Bank

The method of limiting the dynamics of lending is that in some countries (England, France, Switzerland, the Netherlands) the Central Bank has the right to limit the degree of growth of credit investments of business banks in the non-banking sector. For this purpose, a percentage rate for expanding credit operations over a certain period of time is introduced. If the conditions are not met, the Central Bank applies sanctions: banks may be required to pay penalty interest or (as is customary in Switzerland) to transfer an amount equal to the amount of the excess loan to an interest-free account of the Central Bank.

Accounting (discount) policy refers to long-used regulatory methods. The Central Bank acts as a creditor in relation to business banks. Funds are provided subject to rediscounting of bank bills and secured by their securities. Such funds received in the central credit link are called “rediscount” or “pawnshop” loans. Based on the law, the Central Bank has the right to manipulate the interest rate at which it issues loans to banks. The ability to set the “price” of a loan acts as a method of influencing the credit system.

By resorting to this type of regulation as “open market operations,” the Central Bank carries out the purchase and sale of securities (for example, on the stock exchange). By selling them, the bank essentially withdraws the excess balance sheet reserves of commercial banks. In macroeconomic terms, this means the withdrawal of a certain amount of money from circulation. The purchase of securities by the Central Bank contributes to the formation of additional balance sheet reserves by commercial banks. The money supply in circulation increases. As a result, the opportunities for credit operations of business banks are expanding.

The minimum reserve policy ensures that certain amounts of money of business banks are required to be kept in the accounts of the Central Bank. By this, banks receive a certain element of insurance from the Central Bank when fulfilling their obligations. This method was first introduced in the US economy in 1933.

The set of regulatory measures is complemented by a system of so-called “voluntary agreements” concluded between the Central Bank and business banks. Such agreements are especially convenient in cases where the Central Bank must make operational decisions, act quickly and without much bureaucracy.

Problems of practical implementation of credit policy

The greatest effectiveness of the regulatory action of the Central Bank is manifested when the entire set of economic instruments is used, and in an appropriate sequence. When influencing macroeconomic regulation, the Central Bank must take into account both the interrelations of the national economy within the global economy (along the currency line) and the interdependence of parts of the national economy. We are talking, in particular, about the following problematic situations.

1. Accounting policies affect not only banks, but also other sectors of the economy. The negative impact of interest rate fluctuations manifests itself in relation to those areas of the national economy that are burdened with debt. These include: the public sector, capital-intensive industries (nuclear power plants, hydroelectric power stations), railway transport, households, and farming.

2. Interest rate policy leads to a growing price effect. Economic entities strive to escape the influence of the growing discount rate by shifting their costs onto the shoulders of clients (raising, accordingly, the price of their securities). As a result, an additional difficulty is created for the state policy in the field of containing inflation.

In the context of the Russian economy, which is currently experiencing significant problems with inflation, such a side effect is especially painful. The private sector seeks to pass on to the buyer any additional burden that is imposed on it as a result of regulatory measures. The possibility of such financial resourcefulness in Russia is higher, since the degree of market saturation and competition is weaker than is the case in developed Western countries.

3. The administrative prescription of the interest level “from above” is not a market-oriented action. The weakening of the market fundamentals of the economy leads to undesirable consequences. For example, the result may be the strengthening of elements of the shadow economy.

Carrying out economic regulation using a financial or credit mechanism raises an important question for economists: in what situation is one or another option more optimal? Another problem is: what balance of financial and credit measures is reasonable to practice in an economy?

The predominance in the regulation of financial measures is usually called the “Keynesian” version of economic policy. Greater emphasis on the monetary mechanism was called “monetarism” in economics. The practice of implementing economic policy in Western countries has shown that the most rational is a combination of both areas of regulation. However, within its framework there is always an alternating fluctuation towards strengthening one or another method, depending on the state of the economic situation

- This

1) Taxes
2) Expenses

Economic policy of the state

In state economic policy, two directions can be distinguished:

1) structural – the use of such methods of influencing the economy as state support for industries that are especially important for the development of the entire economy of the country, the production of public goods, privatization, promoting competition and limiting monopoly.

2) stabilization– fiscal and monetary policy.

MONETARY POLICY(monetarism) is a policyindirect regulationamount of money in the economy. Carried out through the Central Bank. The instruments of monetary policy are setting the discount rate, setting the required reserve ratio and open market operations.

Tools		Result
1 .The discount rate is the interest rate at which the Central Bank gives loans to commercial banks	By raising or lowering the discount rate, the Central Bank makes loans more expensive or cheaper	1) if loans become more expensive, then the number of people willing to take them decreases - this leads to a decrease in money in circulation and helps reduce the rate of inflation, but increases the decline in production. 2) cheaper loans - stimulate economic activity and an increase in production, but an increase in the money supply in circulation leads to inflation
2 .The required reserve ratio is part of the funds of commercial banks (in% ), which they must hold as reserves with the Central Bank in order to make payments to customers	An increase in the required reserve ratio leads to less money for banks to lend, which makes credit more expensive. Reducing the reserve ratio allows you to increase lending volumes and makes loans cheaper
3. Open market operations	Sale and purchase of securities by the government	Selling means withdrawing free money and reducing the money supply. Purchasing – returning money to circulation and increasing the money supply

The founders of monetarism are David Hume (England, 18th century) and Milton Friedman (USA, 1976 - Nobel Prize in Economics).

BUDGET AND TAX (FISCAL) POLICY- This direct administrative influencestate on the economic life of the country. The main tool is taxes and expenses.

1) Taxes

1) in conditions of inflation - the state increases taxes, reducing the money supply and reducing economic activity

2) in a recession - a reduction in taxes, as a result of which firms have funds for production, and consumers have funds for purchase.

2) Expenses

In crisis situations, the state increases spending to support particularly needy sectors of the economy, expands public procurement of goods and services, stimulating producers to develop production and reducing unemployment

Founders – John Keynes (England, 1883-1946)

Purpose of studying the topic

Understand the features of the institutional foundations of the state’s economic policy.

Main questions

1. State institutions of economic power.

2. Institutional factors of state management of the economy.

3. Institutional and legal support for the transformation of the Ukrainian economy.

Program annotation

Institutionalism as a challenge of the times. The increasing role of institutional factors of economic development. Transformation of the meaning and role of personal factors of production. Methodological aspects of institutional factors of economic development. Institutional approach to the study of economics. Institutional aspects of the transformation of the post-socialist economy. Modification of state functions under the influence of institutional factors. The mechanism of influence of institutional factors on economic policy. The relationship between economic relations and legal principles. Institutional and legal support for the transformation of the Ukrainian economy. Economic strategy and tactics. Choosing an economic model for the development of Ukraine.

State institutions of economic power

The transition from a directive economy to market principles of economic management and analysis of the main directions of institutional transformations proves that in both the first and second cases, state regulation of these processes is extremely necessary. Moreover, we are talking about the formation of new institutions and changes in state power itself. their functioning must be analyzed under market relations, and the influence of the state must be through certain institutions: state ownership, state regulation, social institutions, control of the non-state sector of the economy, state budget, regional budgets, foreign economic activity. The analysis involves identifying positive and negative signs of influence on the economy, as well as the grounds and conditions for the formation of new institutions of power - state or mixed forms of existence.

Based on the fundamental position on the role of the state in the modern economy, it should be considered that the state has its own institutions through which it exercises its economic power. Such institutions include:

o the institution of state ownership, constitutes the public sector of the economy and provides guarantees for its own entrepreneurship;

o the institution of state regulation of the economy, which extends its influence to non-state structures in a single mechanism with market regulatory levers;

o institution of control, including the non-state sector of the economy;

o Institute of the tax system and fiscal policy, concentrates the state budget; municipal governments, which exercise economic power through a chain of command;

o institution of municipal (regional) government;

o Institute of Foreign Economic Activity;

o Institute of Social Sphere;

o the institution of political and ideological power, which provides both the legal field of economic power and the ideological interpretation of the political and economic actions of the state;

o the institution of information - at least that which monopolizes certain information.

The legitimacy of this approach should be recognized at least in the fact that in fact the power of these institutions is quite tangible. Firstly, the growing influence of the state on modern economic life cannot be denied, which even the neoclassics do not deny. Secondly, along with signs of strengthening the regulatory role of the state, the entrepreneurial activity of the state is deepening, which today is not limited only to so-called public goods. Thirdly, political power has recently, including in Ukraine, been increasingly interfering in economic life. Fourthly, foreign economic relations are increasingly subordinate to the state as almost the only body for their regulation and control.29 Each of these areas of economic activity of the state in modern conditions acquires institutional status. This position can be represented by a diagram (Fig. 4.1).

Rice. 4.1.

The figure shows that the actions of the state in various areas of the exercise of its power may indicate the formation of certain institutions that increase their importance on the path to a post-industrial society. Let's try to consider in more detail these institutions of economic power of the state.

The first institutional unit is the public sector of the economy; on the basis of a formational approach, the historical logic of the creation of state property and the expansion of its scope are considered, and on the basis of a civilizational approach, the content of modern concepts of state property and its further evolution towards the formation of corporate property is revealed. It should be added here that state property realizes itself only within the public sector of the economy.

The formation of a public sector institution in Ukraine can be monitored for the following reasons. Firstly, a genetic reason, since the previous economic structure was formed on the principles of almost complete nationalization. Secondly, the reverse process of rejecting the economic role of the state at the initial stage of the transition to market economic relations. Thirdly, the simultaneous destruction of even those state institutions that, by definition, should be state.

However, the modern development of economic systems requires increasing centralization of resources and their management, at least according to the needs of the country’s national and economic security, its defense capability, a stable social sphere, and increased economic efficiency. It is these processes that manifest themselves in the need to ensure the operation of predictive levers and weaken economic crises, smooth out the cyclical nature of economic development, and eliminate so-called “market failures.” The main purpose of the existence and functioning of the public sector of the economy should be socio-economic efficiency and improving the well-being of the population.

Thus, the existence of the public sector of the economy can be recognized as an objective process of our time, since, firstly, the influence of the market environment on the public sector is inevitable, and secondly, the development of the public sector should occur in the direction of forming a system of education, healthcare, culture and art, social insurance, etc., thirdly, the monetary and tax systems, budgetary and fiscal policies are mainly the prerogative of the state, however, market relations leave their mark on them. Thus, the peculiarities of the functioning of the public sector in a market environment are determined both by the presence of a two-sector structure of the national economy and by global experience in the activities of state-owned enterprises and other public institutions.

The institution of state power as regulation of the economy is considered based on the fact that the fact of combining state and market levers in a single mechanism for regulating the economy is proven. The main task of regulation is to establish proportionality and balance in economic development. Since in modern conditions such a balance can only be achieved through the coexistence of the market and state economic policy, it should be noted that the state should preside in this, since it is the state that belongs to create an institution of power that would be able to quickly respond to problems that certainly occur in economy and find ways to overcome them.

If an institution, by the accepted definition of a set of formal, fixed in law, and informal, fixed in customs, traditions, boundaries (frameworks) that structure the relationships of individuals in the economic, social and political environment, then it is precisely the set of methods and levers for regulating the actions of economic entities from the outside states can be considered a certain institution. And since we are talking, on the one hand, about the economy (the object of regulation), and on the other, about the state (the subject of regulation) in a certain way, then this is the state institution of economic power.

The exercise of state control in both state and non-state sectors of the economy is a proven fact. This may be evidenced not even by the presence of control bodies in all countries of the world, but by the objectivity of their functioning in market economic conditions. In Ukraine, a certain system of state control over the activities of various spheres of the economy has developed, which is carried out by several specially created bodies with their own powers.

The state institution of the social sphere can be viewed from the point of view that every society requires so-called social regulation, which is usually understood as ensuring social justice and social security of the country's population. The range of areas of government activity in this area should include such main ones as providing every able-bodied member of society with a place of work and decent wages, and caring for the disabled population.

The obvious and unique institution of economic power of the state is the state budget. It is a complex that absorbs the correlation of interests of various social strata of the country’s population, since state budget expenditures perform the functions of economic, social and political regulation of public relations. The main goal of fiscal policy, by definition, is to stabilize, consolidate and adapt economic policy to changing conditions. Based on this, the specific goals of the budget expenditures should be to provide social budget items that are designed to mitigate the significant differentiation of social strata of the population by income; subsidies to certain areas of the economy; expenditures on the country's defense capabilities; optimal provision of administrative and managerial apparatus; expenses related to the reimbursement of internal and external public debt. The revenue side of the budget is also important, the main instrument for filling it is taxes. The fiscal policy of the state, which should, on the one hand, ensure financing of public expenditures, on the other hand, serve as an instrument for regulating the economy, that is, it is at the same time a mechanism that significantly influences the behavior of all economic entities. Any state pays careful attention to the country’s tax system. A significant role is played by the mechanism of the relationship between fiscal and transfer policies, built on the basis of the budget, in the redistribution of GDP in order to increase the efficiency of the entire national economy.

Further analysis of state institutions of economic power reveals another of them - municipal (local, regional) power. The question of whether it can be considered should be decided depending on how the system of its subordination to the central authorities is built and how the system of local self-government is built. If local authorities have a fairly wide range of their own actions regarding the regulation of the region’s economy, then it really turns into a certain institution of economic power.

One of the main factors influencing the status of municipal authorities is the financial resources that it can dispose of in the region. Today, disputes continue over what part of the resources accumulated by the region should be transferred to the state budget and what part should be left in the region. They are being fought precisely for the fact that local authorities can become an institution of economic power. The calculations should be based on the place and role of a particular region in the country’s economy. Thus, if we consider state institutions of economic power as a whole, then we should not exclude such of them as municipal authorities, even when it does not yet constitute an institution, but it is just being formed.

The foreign economic policy of a state can be considered as an institution of its economic power under any conditions - the existence of a state monopoly on it or its replacement only by state control. The fact is that almost all government levers of influence on the country’s economic process significantly affect its foreign economic relations, in particular the tax system, changes in the discount rate, investment benefits, and the like. Firstly, the investment climate in the country depends on them; secondly, export-import operations should contribute to the production of domestic goods and services, the movement of national capital, and the effective use of scientific and technical products; thirdly, customs policy, which should be aimed at the socio-economic feasibility of foreign economic relations.30

The question arises about information resources. Researchers of this problem believe that already now those who own information and telecommunication technologies are acquiring the ability to control the entire society. Therefore, the role of the state is significantly increasing, at least in such main areas as attracting material, financial and human resources to information production; legislative regulation of all issues related to information; development of international information exchange and cooperation. So it can be assumed that in this direction a separate institution of economic power can be formed.

The last component of the proposed scheme of state institutions of economic power is political power and state ideology. Let us recall that the issue of the relationship between economics and politics is one that has been debated and is still being debated in economic theory, at least regarding what is the priority here. Can these connections be represented in such a diagram (Fig. 4.2)?

Rice. 4.2.

It has been proven that the economic life of the country is impossible without a certain political organization of society, which is embodied by the state. However, the effect of objective economic laws cannot be canceled by any legal acts of a particular state - the latter can either contribute to the creation of conditions for their operation, or restrain this process.

Thus, the problems of state institutions of economic power have been considered and provide grounds for the following conclusions. In modern conditions of development of a national economy of a market (mixed) type, the problem of economic power is relevant. In the structure of its institutions, the power of the state acquires the main importance, has its own institutions for the exercise (realization) of economic power, and corresponds to the process of formation of the institutional economy and its socialization. This approach to the analysis of the economic power of the state revealed its following institutions, such as the public sector of the economy, its state regulation, state control, social sphere, state budget, municipal authorities, foreign economic activity and customs control, informatization of society, political power.

Each of these institutions of economic power of the state has a different impact on the socio-economic situation of the country, but they all interact. The public sector and state economic policy have a more significant influence on it than local authorities.

The state budget should be considered the most significant institution of the state’s economic power, since it is it that acts as an effective mechanism for the redistribution of GDP in the interests of developing the entire national economy and increasing the living standards of the country’s population. The basis of this mechanism is the optimal balance between fiscal and transfer policies of the state. Political power has a significant influence on the national economy, its structure and trends. The political power of the state is based on the relationship between the ACTION of economic laws and the subjective actions of the government, and acts in the system of economic power of the state as its separate institution.

When characterizing methods of state influence, one can also emphasize their organizational and institutional form.

The concept of “institutionality” is used relatively little in domestic scientific circulation.

Unfortunately, it is even less perceived by the economic thinking of the population. Meanwhile, the development of the economy in a market-legal version puts forward the need for a much more active use of this term. It reflects the fact that the phenomena of economic life in a developed state of law lose their random nature. Certain legal, ethical, psychological, organizational norms and customs seem to be layered on the surface of economic reality.

Economic policy itself is a system of organizationally formalized measures and traditions. Such actions related to

a phenomenon that has existed for a long time, they create the concept of “institution”. According to the American economist W. Hamilton, “institutions are a verbal symbol for the best description of a group of social customs. They mean a predominant and permanent way of thinking or acting that has become a habit for a social group or a custom for a people.”

As an example, let’s call “the institution of law” and “the institution of property”. The use of the term in this sense is somewhat different, naturally, from options designated, for example, as “research institute” or “institute of noble maidens.” It was the last cases of use of this term that were more typical in domestic lexical practice.

The emphasis on the organizational and legal nature allows us to identify some additional features of state regulation methods:

* formation of executive structures of state power, the immediate task of which is the practical implementation of government goals;

* creation and maintenance of state property, i.e. public sector;

* preparation of economic programs and economic forecasts;

* support for research centers in economics (having different forms of ownership), institutes of economic information, chambers of commerce and industry, various economic councils and unions;

* ensuring the functioning of institutions of advisers, consultants, expert councils on economic problems;

* legal, information support for business and trade unions, rational forms of their interaction;

* participation in the creation of forms of economic integration, organization of regular international meetings on economic issues (for example, representatives of the G7 group).

A clear example of the manifestation of the institutional form of government measures is the practice that exists in Germany. This country is characterized by the special importance of legal norms and traditions in the economic sphere. A typical manifestation is, first of all, the punctual degree of development of the system of economic law.

Noteworthy is the state's support for a system of clear and reasonable interaction between the two largest public institutions: associations of entrepreneurs and trade unions. The system of public administration is well developed and operates very effectively - through a combination of a small number of ministries (currently 16 such departments). The experience of relying the state on a system consisting of 6 economic research institutes and a Council of Experts (called by journalists the “Council of Five Wise Men”) has been very successful.

1. Administrative measures

Methods of direct influence involve such regulation by the state, in which economic entities are forced to come to decisions based not on independent economic choice, but on state regulations.

Administrative measures, in turn, are divided into measures of prohibition, permission, and coercion.

In the Belarusian economy, two trends can be observed in relation to administrative methods:

Strong system of control bodies;

Constantly changing legislation.

2. Economic measures

Financial (budgetary, fiscal) policy;

Monetary policy;

Programming;

Forecasting.

Figure 2.1 - System of economic policy instruments

Note - Source

The category “monetary policy” has a similar multifaceted nature. Compared to financial measures, monetary measures exhibit more of an indirect effect. This is due, for example, to the fact that financial policy is carried out primarily by the Ministry of Finance, an integral part of the government. Monetary policy is implemented by the National Bank, which, as a rule, has relative independence from the legislative and executive authorities (the chairman of the board of the National Bank is appointed by the President).

In a transforming economy (or in the event of a crisis), the ratio of methods may be different. The financial (i.e. direct) aspect of regulation sometimes comes to the fore.

3. Institutional measures

When characterizing methods of state influence, one can also emphasize their organizational and institutional form.

Among the options for the spread of institutional forms in modern conditions, we note:

Formation of executive structures of state power, the immediate task of which is the practical implementation of government goals;

Creation and maintenance of state property, i.e. public sector;

Preparation of economic programs and economic forecasts;

Support for economic research centers (with different forms of ownership), economic information institutes, chambers of commerce and industry, various economic councils and unions;

Ensuring the functioning of institutions of advisers, consultants, expert councils on economic problems;

Legal and information support for business and trade unions, rational forms of their interaction;

Participation in the creation of forms of economic integration, organization of regular international meetings on economic issues (for example, representatives of the G7 group).

The institutional aspect of state regulation in the Republic of Belarus has always manifested itself with a certain specificity. It was implemented in domestic practice mainly in the form of creating a large number of institutions themselves and, to a lesser extent, legal institutions. Suffice it to remember that in the USSR there were about 900 ministries, departments, and departments. Currently, changes are taking place in the previous emphasis of the institutional approach.

4. Financial mechanism of economic policy

Raising funds for the formation of a financial fund, with the help of which it is possible to influence the macroeconomic balance;

Achieving a regulatory effect through the technique of resource extraction itself (for example, manipulating tax rates).

5. Forms of receiving government revenues

The tax system achieves rationality, according to the German economist H. Haller, if the following conditions are met:

Taxation should be structured so that the state’s costs for its implementation are as low as possible (orientation to the so-called “principle of low-cost taxation”);

The collection of taxes should ensure that the taxpayer's costs associated with the payment procedure are as low as possible (the principle of low-cost tax payment);

Paying taxes should be as little a burden as possible for the taxpayer so as not to impair his economic activity (the principle of limiting the burden of taxes);

Taxation should not be an obstacle either to the “internal” rational organization of production or to its orientation towards the structure of needs, i.e. “external” rationality;

This process should influence the distribution of income in order to make it more fair (distributive efficiency);

It is necessary to ensure that the combination of taxes forms a single system in which each tax has its own specific purpose. At the same time, neither mutual “overlap” of taxes nor the presence of “hatches” between them (internal isolation) should be allowed.

The subject of credit policy is the National Bank (NB). According to the law, it fulfills the government's goals, but at the same time is not, as a rule, a government institution. The National Library has a certain degree of independence. Such rights are given to him on the basis of the principle of separation of powers. As the experience of Western countries shows, this institution, which has relative independence, is not a resigned executor of the will of the state. In a difficult economic situation, the government cannot demand that the credit center solve its financial problems by issuing additional money supply.

The set of tasks of the National Bank in the implementation of economic policy contains two directions. The first is to provide the national economy with a full-fledged currency system. A stable currency is a critical element of market infrastructure. The second direction is due to the fact that the National Bank is prescribed the function of influencing the lending activities of private business (commercial) banks in the interests of macroeconomic policy. In the sphere of monetary circulation, the state pursues its policy, thus using cooperation with this regulatory partner. A kind of tandem is formed: “the state - the National Bank.” Practice shows the high effectiveness of this cooperation.

The greatest effectiveness of the regulatory action of the National Bank is manifested when the entire set of economic instruments is used, and in an appropriate sequence. When influencing macroeconomic regulation, the National Bank must take into account both the interrelations of the national economy within the global economy (along the currency line) and the interdependence of parts of the national economy. We are talking, in particular, about the following problematic situations.

Thus, to summarize the characteristics of the financial mechanism, we note that a high degree of built-in flexibility of the financial system is considered desirable for the economy. Built-in financial stabilizers have the positive aspect that they make an accurate diagnosis and forecast of the market situation less necessary. At the same time, the advantages of built-in stabilizers should not lead to an overestimation of their capabilities. These stabilizers, as a rule, soften market fluctuations, but cannot completely prevent them.

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Methods of economic policy include: Instruments of state economic policy

State institutions of economic power

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