财政理论中三个基本问题的再探讨

More on Three Basic Issues in Public Finance

本文主要探讨财政学的假设前提、分析方法和公共的基本单位等三个基础理论问题。假设前提是一门学科的基本出发点,是解释该学科规律的基本准则;分析方法决定了学科规律的可靠性;公共的基本单位是学科研究对象的最小单位。主流财政学认为该学科的假设前提是经济人集合而成的“公共”,本质上仍属于经济人假设;该学科的分析方法主要是模拟市场方法;该学科的基本单位是基层地方政府辖区内的居民集合。本文对财政主流理论关于三个基本理论问题的观点提出质疑。本文认为财政学的假设前提是社会的公正正义,是处理财政关系的最高准则;财政学的分析方法是宏观和微观相结合,揭示财政体制的公正正义;公共的基本单位是小区居民集合,是居民生活方式的最终落实单位。主流理论对三个基本理论问题的看法影响深远,但与国家治理现代化的要求越来越不适应,需要清理和重构。

The paper mainly discusses three basic theoretical issues in public finance:the basic assumptions,the methodology,and the basic units of the public sector.Basic assumptions are the starting point of a discipline and also the basic criteria we rely on to explain the fundamental laws and principles of the discipline.Methodology determines how reliable the fundamental laws and principles can be.The basic unit represents the smallest object of research.A mainstream view is that the basic assumption of public finance is that the public sector is composed of“homo economics”as in the homo economics hypothesis;the main methodology is market simulation;and the basic unit is the collective of residents within the jurisdiction of a local government.This paper raises questions about these basic views and concludes that the basic assumptions of public finance theories are social justice and fairness,which are the highest criteria for dealing with all relationships within the scope of the discipline;the methodology of public finance is a combination of macroscopic and microscopic approaches to prove the system just and fair;and the basic unit of public finance research is the collective of residents within a residential community,which is where residents lead their day-to-day lives.The mainstream views concerning these three basic issues have had far-reaching influences,but they can no longer meet the requirements of modernization of national governance and need to be updated or reshaped.