奥康纳资本主义国家财政危机理论再评价

Reevaluation of James O'Connor’s Theory of Fiscal Crisisin Capitalist Countries

在西方国家债务问题日益突出的情况下,奥康纳的资本主义国家财政危机理论再次受到重视。文章全面审视了奥康纳提出的相关定义及其理论逻辑,通过历史数据指出该理论与现实的差距,认为原因在于该理论忽视了货币在国家财政危机理论中的作用。奥康纳的国家财政危机理论和西方主流经济学一样,对主权货币国家与非主权货币国家及国家财政预算与家庭预算不加区分,然而当代资本主义货币制度和货币体系的变化使其理论失去了现实基础。奥康纳的理论错误甚至助长了新自由主义,进而影响了西方左翼政党的进步政策议程。这对中国的经济发展与政策方向也有深刻警醒意义。

As the debt problems in Western countries are increasingly serious,James O′Connor’s theory of fiscal crisis in capitalist countries has once again received attention.This article comprehensively examines the relevant definitions and theoretical logic proposed by James O′Connor and points out the gap between this theory and reality based on historical data.It is believed that the reason for the gap lies in the fact that this theory ignores the role of currency in the fiscal crisis of the state.Similar to mainstream Western economics,James O′Connor’s theory does not distinguish between sovereign currency countries and non-sovereign cur⁃rency countries,as well as between national and household budgets.The changes in contemporary capitalist monetary systems and monetary systems have deprived the reality foundation of this theory.James O′Connor’s theoretical errors even fueled neoliberalism,further influencing the progressive policy agenda of Western leftwing parties.This has warning significance for China’s economic development and policy direction.