Social policy in a market economy briefly. State policy in a market economy. Social protection, guarantee and support of the population

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Ministry of Education and Science of Russia

Federal State Budgetary Educational Institution of Higher Professional Education

Vyatka State Humanitarian University

Management department

Department of Economic Theory and Human Resources Management

Course work

Social policy of the state in a market economy

Students: Gushchina N.G.

Scientific adviser:

K. e. Sc., Associate Professor N.Yu. Fadeeva

Introduction

1. Theoretical aspects of state social policy

1.1 The essence and main tasks of social policy

1.2 Main directions of social policy

2. Social policy of Russia at the present stage of development

2.1 Statistics of main social indicators

2.2 Mechanisms for implementing social policy

2.3 Structural and personnel support for social work

Conclusion

Bibliography

Applications

Introduction

In recent years, issues of social policy have come to the center of political discussions in almost all countries of the world, including Russia. And this is not surprising. After all, the success of a given state at the international level depends on how society lives and develops. Human economic activity ultimately aims to create a material base for improving living conditions. Since people are closely connected with each other in their economic activities, a change in the living conditions of an individual cannot occur in isolation from changes in these conditions for other individuals. In turn, this requires coordination of the actions of various socio-economic entities to ensure favorable living conditions. This area of activity in a modern market economy is largely controlled by the state and is called social policy. In essence, social policy expresses the ultimate goals and results of economic growth. Social policy plays a dual role from the point of view of the functioning of the economic system. As economic growth occurs, the creation of favorable conditions in the social sphere becomes the main goal of economic activity, that is, the goals of economic growth are concentrated in social policy. Secondly, social policy is also a factor in economic growth. If economic growth is not accompanied by an increase in well-being, then people lose incentives for effective economic activity. The higher the level of economic development achieved, the higher the requirements for people ensuring economic growth, for their knowledge, culture, etc. In turn, this requires further development of the social sphere.

Thus, social policy is one of the most pressing topics discussed both at the domestic and international levels.

The purpose of this course work is to reveal the essence of the main directions of social policy of the state in Russia.

The goal involves solving the following tasks:

1. study the theoretical aspects of the state’s social policy;

2. consider the main directions of social policy in Russia;

3. identify positive and negative aspects and prospects for the development of public administration in the social sphere.

The subject of the study is the social policy of the state; the object of study is the Russian Federation.

When completing the course work, the following research methods were used: analysis, synthesis, etc.

The theoretical basis of the study was the works of academic economists, as well as practicing specialists in the field of social policy of the state, such as: I.P. Nikolaeva, V.D. Roik, A.A. Kochetkov, G.G. Chibrikov, M.A. Sazhina and others.

Information base for the study: Russian legislation on social policy issues, the content of government programs for the development of the social sphere, statistical data from the State Statistics Committee, materials from periodicals, etc.

1. Theoretical aspects of state social policy

1.1 The essence and main tasks of social policy

A socially oriented market economy involves significant government activity in solving social problems. This is due to the fact that the market economy does not guarantee workers the right to work, standard well-being, education, and does not provide social protection for the disabled, the poor, and pensioners. Therefore, there is a need for government intervention in the sphere of income distribution through social policy.

There is a well-known opinion that social policy as a historical phenomenon appeared quite recently, that it is a product of the 20th century, even its second half. However, in history there have been no states that did not solve social problems in one way or another, but, first of all, this activity boiled down to the inevitable assistance to those affected by crop failures, drought, natural disasters, epidemics, etc. Social policy is woven into the general system of state policy, and as part of the formation of civil society, it expands its capabilities and extends to active non-state associations and groups. The problems of social policy took shape during the nineteenth and twenty-first centuries. And with the growing scale of government intervention in social processes, it contributed to the separation of social policy from the entire complex of public regulation as an independent direction, covering a specific sphere of human life and activity. The emergence of the very concept of “social policy” is associated with the formation in the second half of the 19th century. theory and practice of a social state that intervenes in social processes in order to regulate and stabilize them. The new functions of the state that arose in connection with its socialization acquired a more systematic and qualitatively defined character and were united by the term “social policy”

A.A. Kochetkov believes that social policy is a system of economic relations that provides each member of society with guarantees of a certain standard of living, the minimum necessary for the development and use of his abilities (labor, entrepreneurial, personal) and provides him with the loss of these abilities (old people, sick, disabled people, children, etc.) . The same point of view is shared by M.A. Sazhina, G.G. Chibrikov and many other scientists.

From the point of view of I.P. Nikolaeva, social policy can be understood in the broad sense of the word, as a system of economic relations between state and non-state institutions on the one hand, and individual social groups and individuals, on the other, regarding providing the latter with decent living conditions. In a narrow sense, social policy is an integral part of state economic policy aimed at solving social problems.

However, most often you can see the following definition of social policy and its essence: social policy of the state is a policy aimed at changing the level and quality of life of the population, at mitigating contradictions between participants in a market economy and preventing social conflicts.

Thus, there are many terms that define this phenomenon, but one thing remains unchanged - social policy is an important part of state policy, without which many people simply could not survive.

Social policy is divided into expanded and restrictive.

Expanded social policy means the general availability of social programs, the universality of social payments, and the comprehensive nature of the redistributive activities of the state.

Restrictive social policy means reducing it to a minimum, to the function of complementing traditional institutions of the social sphere.

An indicator of the effectiveness of social policy is the level and quality of life of the population.

The living standard of the population is a set of indicators characterizing the level of material consumption of the population, for example, consumption of products per capita, provision of these products per family or per hundred families, consumption structure. The starting point when determining living standards is the “consumer basket” - a set of goods and services that ensures a certain level of consumption. Changes in the cost of the consumer basket serve as the basis for pursuing a policy of generating income for the population. In this regard, a minimum and rational level of consumption is distinguished.

The minimum level of consumption is such a consumer set, the reduction of which puts the consumer beyond the bounds of ensuring normal living conditions. Rational level of consumption - the amount and structure of consumption that is most favorable for the individual.

The minimum level of consumption determines the so-called “poverty line”. The share of the population living below the poverty line is one of the most important indicators characterizing the standard of living in a given country. Reducing this indicator and fighting poverty is one of the main tasks of social policy.

Much more difficult to assess is the indicator of the quality of life of the population - a set of predominantly qualitative characteristics reflecting the material, social, physical and cultural well-being of the population. This indicator provides for normal working conditions and its safety, an acceptable ecological state of the environment, the availability and possibilities of using free time, cultural level, physical development, physical and property security of citizens, etc.

Social policy is aimed at solving the following tasks:

1) stabilization of the standard of living of the population and prevention of mass poverty;

2) curbing the growth of unemployment and material support for the unemployed, as well as training labor resources of a size and quality that meet the needs of social production;

3) maintaining a stable level of real income of the population through anti-inflationary measures and income indexation;

4) development of sectors of the social sphere (education, healthcare, housing, culture and art).

Thus, the essence of social policy is to maintain relations both between social groups, layers of society, and within them, to provide conditions for increasing the well-being and standard of living of members of society, and to create social guarantees for participation in social production.

Therefore, an important task of social policy is targeted (i.e., intended for specific groups of the population) social support from the state, primarily for weakly protected segments of the population. The solution to this problem is aimed at maintaining optimal relationships between the incomes of the active (employed) part of the population and disabled citizens through the mechanism of taxes and social transfers.

1.2 Main directions of social policy

The practice of social policy in developed countries has developed several directions in its implementation:

Regulation of population employment;

State policy in generating income;

Social protection of citizens;

Policies in the field of education, health, housing, etc.

State policy in generating income

Income is distributed unevenly between different segments of the population, i.e. There is income differentiation - differences in the level of income per capita or per employee. Therefore, the state pursues a policy in generating income. Income inequality is common to all economic systems.

Various indicators are used to quantify income differentiation. The degree of income inequality is reflected by the Lorenz curve (Figure 1), when constructed, the shares of families (as a percentage of their total number) with the corresponding percentage of income are plotted along the x-axis, and the shares of income of the families in question (as a percentage of total income) are plotted along the ordinate axis.

The theoretical possibility of a completely equal distribution of income is represented by the bisector, which indicates that any given percentage of families receives the corresponding percentage of income. This means that if 20, 40, 60% of families receive, respectively, 20, 40, 60% of the total income, then the corresponding points will be located on the bisector.

The Lorenz curve shows the actual distribution of income. The shaded area between the line of absolute equality and the Lorenz curve indicates the degree of income inequality: the larger this area, the greater the degree of income inequality.

Figure 1 - Lorenz curve

If the actual distribution of income were absolutely equal, then the Lorenz curve and the bisector would coincide. The Lorenz curve is used to compare the distribution of income over different time periods or between different population groups.

The last of the most frequently used indicators of income differentiation is the decile coefficient, which expresses the ratio between the average incomes of the 10% of the highest paid citizens and the average incomes of the 10% of the least wealthy.

To characterize the distribution of total income between population groups, the population income concentration index (Gini coefficient) is used. The higher this coefficient, the stronger the inequality, i.e., the higher the degree of polarization of society by income level, the closer the Gini coefficient is to 1. When incomes in society are equalized, this indicator tends to zero. State income policy is an integral part of the social policy of influencing personal monetary income and the prices of goods and services, and thereby personal real income. To assess the level and dynamics of income of the population, indicators of nominal, disposable and real income are used.

Nominal income characterizes the level of monetary income regardless of taxation and price changes.

Disposable income is nominal income minus taxes and other mandatory payments, i.e. funds used by the population for consumption and savings. To measure the dynamics of disposable income, the indicator “real disposable income” is used, calculated taking into account the price index.

Real incomes characterize nominal incomes taking into account changes in retail prices (tariffs). Real disposable cash income is determined based on cash income of the current period minus mandatory payments and contributions, adjusted for the consumer price index. The state policy of income is to redistribute it through the state budget through differentiated taxation of different groups of recipients of income and social benefits. At the same time, a significant share of national income is transferred from high-income strata of the population to low-income strata. Transfer payments are payments by a government or firm to a household or firm of money (or transfers of goods and services) in return for which the payer does not directly receive goods or services.

Social transfers are a system of cash or in-kind payments to the population that are not related to their participation in economic activities currently or in the past. The purpose of social transfers is to humanize relations in society, prevent the growth of crime, and also maintain domestic demand.

The mechanism of social transfers includes the withdrawal of part of the income in the form of taxes from the middle and high-income segments of the population and the payment of benefits to the most needy and disabled people, as well as unemployment benefits. The state also redistributes income by changing the prices set by the market, for example, by guaranteeing prices to farmers and introducing minimum wage rates.

Redistribution of income is carried out by direct and indirect methods. Direct redistribution channels come from the budget: funds collected in the form of taxes (the progressive income tax plays the main role here) are intended for social programs, benefits and payments. Indirect methods include charitable foundations, preferential taxation of low-income groups, provision of free public education and health care services to low-income people, government price control in monopoly markets, and other methods.

Since the sources of income of the population are wages, income from property (dividends, interest, rent), social payments (pensions, unemployment benefits), the problem of protecting cash income from inflation is of particular importance. For this purpose, indexing is used.

Indexation is a mechanism established by the state to increase the monetary income of the population, allowing it to partially or fully compensate for the rise in prices of consumer goods and services. Income indexation is aimed at maintaining purchasing power, especially for socially vulnerable groups of the population with fixed incomes - pensioners, disabled people, single-parent and large families, as well as young people.

Income indexation also has significant disadvantages. Thus, it can negatively affect the desire for more intense work, and also does not contribute to the implementation of anti-inflationary measures.

Employment policy

Another important area of social policy is employment policy, since a high level of employment also ensures corresponding incomes for the main part of the population. The employment rate refers to the percentage of the labor force currently employed. The state in its policy strives to achieve full employment. Moreover, in this context, this concept does not mean the use of all available resources by the economy for the production of goods and services, but a level of employment when there is only frictional and structural unemployment.

Frictional unemployment - unemployment associated with voluntary changes of jobs by workers and periods of temporary layoff; temporary unemployment during periods of workers transitioning from one job to another.

Structural unemployment is unemployment that arises as a result of a mismatch between the qualification structure of the labor force and the needs of production. Structural and frictional unemployment form the natural rate of unemployment. Unemployment is one of the main problems of a market economy, which the state must solve.

Over the past 30-plus years, Western countries have developed a system of social shock absorbers that the state uses to ensure the economic security of workers. This includes special measures to protect employees from unemployment and ensure their right to work. In order to regulate employment, the state takes the following actions:

1. reduces the length of the working week during periods of mass unemployment;

Early retirement of civil servants of pre-retirement age;

3. creates new jobs and organizes public works in the field of infrastructure, especially for the chronically unemployed and young people;

4. limits immigration, stimulates the repatriation of foreign workers to reduce labor supply in the labor market.

It is becoming increasingly important:

Creation of labor exchanges;

Implementation of programs aimed at training and retraining of the workforce.

The next element of the economic security system is unemployment insurance funds. They are formed through deductions from the wages of the workers themselves, as well as contributions from entrepreneurs from the wage fund. However, serious problems arise at what level to set the payment of benefits, so as not to eliminate the incentive to look for a new job and save people from severe economic need; for how long should unemployment benefits be established so that a person has time to find a new job or change profession? It is obvious that the state should take more care of those who have lost their jobs against their will.

Along with direct ones, there are indirect measures to regulate the labor market: tax, monetary and depreciation policies of the government, legislation in the field of social security, labor relations, etc.

Social protection of citizens

Social protection - support for low-income groups of the population and those who are not included in social production, as well as the protection of employees through state regulation of the labor regime and its payment, and employee rights. This aspect of social protection is determined by the level of economic development of the country, the balance of political forces and the level of self-awareness.

The social protection system includes compulsory types of social insurance, its voluntary types; state social assistance system and social assistance programs for enterprises.

Principles of social protection:

1. social responsibility of society and the state;

2. social justice in the field of labor relations,

3. the universal and mandatory nature of protecting workers from social and professional risks, minimizing these risks;

4. state guarantees of social protection;

5. economic and social freedom of workers in the field of labor and their personal responsibility;

6. interest and solidarity of protection subjects in the formation and improvement of protection systems;

7. multi-level and multi-targeted methods of social protection, multi-directional measures of social protection.

The state social assistance system is implemented through the mechanism of social programs. The most important part of the state social security program and the main mechanism for social protection of workers in a market economy is social insurance. It applies to persons who had a permanent job for some time and lost it due to illness, unemployment, or retirement age. There are mandatory forms of social insurance: general social insurance, professional social insurance, territorial social insurance, as well as mandatory types of social insurance: pension insurance, industrial accident insurance, unemployment insurance, sickness insurance, medical insurance. The most important direction of pension insurance policy is the implementation of the concept of “dynamic pension”: bringing pensions in accordance with the level of wages of the working population. This will prevent the depreciation (due to inflation) of funds that have been accumulated by the employee through regular contributions.

It is the responsibility of the state to provide a functional system of health insurance institutions. Possible accidents at work and occupational diseases are covered by the accident insurance system. Social protection of workers, as the most important direction of the state’s social policy, is extremely important, because the majority of the population in all countries are working people whose only (or main) income is wages, which means that they are economically vulnerable and have nothing to rely on except government power.

Social sector development policy

Housing policy is considered in modern economics as an element of social policy designed to provide the necessary living conditions. Easily and quickly solved housing problems enhance the territorial mobility of the labor force, which, in conditions of significant structural changes, acquires special significance, because it increases production efficiency.

In the traditional version, this area of social policy is carried out by allocating funds from the budget to assist workers who rent housing. However, there are alternative options: the state is able to encourage independent housing construction. In this case, various possibilities are used. For example, territorial authorities themselves create relatively cheap housing complexes and rent them out to low-income families. Another way of social support in this area involves the use of housing built by private building cooperatives. The role of the state in this case boils down to the fact that it provides construction organizations with land free of charge, provides them with preferential lending, or applies more lenient taxation to them. Under this option, the state usually controls the amount of housing payment by setting a limit on the income of owners for rented housing. In some cases, it is necessary to act even more decisively: to confiscate land from private ownership and use it for public housing construction.

State policy in the field of health care is reduced to providing conditions for maintaining the health of the population. In modern market conditions, this problem is solved in the following directions:

Prevention of mass epidemics;

Ensuring availability of high-quality and timely medical care;

Promotion of a healthy lifestyle, etc.

It should also be noted that health care policy is closely related to such an element of social policy as regulation of population income, since the availability of medical services largely depends on their level. As practice shows, developed countries strive to provide a minimum free range of medical services to the population (for example, ambulance services), but most of them are still provided on a paid basis. At the same time, special funds are created to pay for treatment costs, formed through deductions from employees’ salaries.

Education policy is also aimed at ensuring accessibility and quality of education for the population. In developed countries, secondary education is compulsory and free for the majority of the population, while training in specific professions occurs both free (for certain categories of people) and on a paid basis (for the majority of the population).

social policy personnel Russia

2. Social policy of Russia at the present stage of development

2.1 Statistics of main social indicators

According to the State Statistics Committee of the Russian Federation, income differentiation in Russia in 2009 reached such a level that the share of the richest 10% of the population accounted for 31.0% of the total cash income (in 2008 - 31.1%), and the share of 10 % of the least affluent population - 1.9% (1.9%).

At the same time, the Gini coefficient has become even closer to one over the past five years, which indicates an increase in income differentiation in the country

Table 1

Distribution of the population by average per capita income (in percent) for the period 2005-2010.


Whole population
including with average per capita cash income per month, rub.:



7000,1 - 10000,0
10000,1 - 15000,0
15000,1 - 25000,0

over 35000.0

Thus, based on the data in the table, we can conclude that for the period from 2008-2010. the number of people with an income in the region of 10,000-15,000 rubles. It is decreasing, that is, every year the number of people receiving an income of more than 15,000 rubles per month. Increasing. Also from the table data, it can be noted that the majority of the Russian population (just over 20%) receive an income in the region of 15,000-25,000 rubles.

As for the amount of wages, to regulate them, as well as to determine the amounts of various social benefits, the minimum wage (minimum wage) is used. Over the past five years, this figure has increased significantly: from 720 rubles. in 2005 up to 4330 rubles. currently .

In January-June 2011, the differentiation of the Russian population by income level decreased slightly compared to January-June 2010, according to data from the Federal State Statistics Service (Rosstat).

According to the results of the 1st half of 2011, the share of the 10% richest Russians accounted for 29.8% of the total amount of cash income, while in the 1st half of 2010 - 30.2% (in the 1st half of 2009 - 30. 6%, in the 1st half of 2008 - 30.5%, in the 1st half of 2007 - 30.2%, in the 1st half of 2006 - 29.9%, in the 1st half of 2005 - 29.6%).

The share of 10% of the country's least affluent population in the 1st half of 2011 accounted for only 2.0% of the total cash income of residents of the Russian Federation (in the 1st half of 2010 - also 2.0%, in the 1st half of 2009 and 2008 years - 1.9% each, in the 1st half of 2007, in the 1st half of 2006 and in the 1st half of 2005 - 2% each).

The total monetary income of the population of the Russian Federation in the 1st half of 2011 amounted to 15 trillion. 919 billion rubles (in the 1st half of 2010 - 14 trillion 701 billion). The monetary expenses of Russians amounted to 15 trillion. 971 billion rubles (14 trillion 546 billion).

Income (average per capita) less than 3,500 rubles per month in the 1st half of 2011 was received by 3.1% of the total population of Russia (in January-June 2010 - 4.3%). Income from 3500 to 5000 rubles - 5.2% (6.3%), from 5000 to 7000 rubles - 9.1% (10.4%), from 7000 to 10000 rubles - 14.8% (15.8% ), from 10,000 to 15,000 rubles - 21.0% (20.9%), from 15,000 to 25,000 rubles - 24.5% (22.9%), from 25,000 to 35,000 rubles - 11.0% (9.8 %), over 35,000 rubles per month - 11.3% of the total population (9.6%).

The labor market in Russia is unbalanced. Most regions of the country in the 90s. became labor intensive.

Thus, in a number of regions and republics of Russia at the beginning of 2008, the supply of labor was tens or even hundreds of times higher than the demand for it: in the Ivanovo region - 158 times, in the Republic of Tuva - 143 times, and in the Arkhangelsk region and Tambov regions, the republics of Udmurtia, Buryatia, Dagestan - 42-47 times.

At the same time, in the regions of the Far North there is still a shortage of labor, especially qualified ones. There is also unsatisfactory demand for certain categories of specialists with growing unemployment in most professional categories of the labor force.

Despite all these difficulties, one can hope that the current quasi-market will be put to an end soon enough.

In 2007, the non-state sector of the economy already accounted for 61% of the total number of employees. In a competitive environment, enterprises will strive to optimize the composition and number of employees. In turn, workers will have the opportunity to find work on the most favorable terms.

All this can be realized only by creating a truly competitive environment, by canceling registrations that impede the free movement of labor, by creating a housing market and an effective system for promoting hiring.

The number of economically active population by the end of March 2008. amounted, according to the Federal State Statistics Service (Rosstat), to 73.9 million people, or about 52% of the total population of the Russian Federation.

The number of unemployed in Russia, according to Rosstat, at the end of March 2008. amounted to 5.3 million people, which is 6.6% less than for the same period in 2007. Thus, the unemployment rate in the Russian Federation in March 2008 amounted to 7.2% of the country's economically active population, compared to 7.3% in February.

Figure 2 - Dynamics of the economically active population of the Russian Federation

At the same time, 1.7 million people were registered as unemployed in state employment service institutions in March of this year (10.2% less than in March 2007). Of those registered, 1.5 million people received unemployment benefits.

The predominant part of the employed population is concentrated in large and medium-sized organizations. In February 2008, they employed 38.3 million people, or 56% of the total number of employees. In addition, large and medium-sized organizations employed 1.8 million people (in full-time equivalent) on part-time basis and under civil contracts. The total number of jobs filled for full-time employment of workers in large and medium-sized organizations, defined as the total number of employees on the payroll, part-time workers and workers performing work under civil contracts, in February 2008 amounted to 40.1 million and was more than in February 2007 by 0.4 million people, or by 1.1%.

The source of regular data on employment and unemployment in Russia are the results of surveys conducted by state statistical bodies, scientific institutions, public organizations, etc. Let us analyze the statistical data on the dynamics of unemployment in the country for 2003-2008, presented in Table 1.

table 2

Analysis of unemployment in the country for 2005-2010.

COUNTRY DATA:
Population (thousand people)
Economically active population (thousand people)
Number of unemployed (thousand people)
Number of unemployed people registered with the employment service (thousand people)
Total unemployment rate (%)
Registered unemployment rate (%)
Average monthly salary
Average cost of living per capita (RUB per month)

So, as can be seen from the table, the labor market experiences constant fluctuations. Number of economically active population in the period from 2005 to 2010. gradually increases by 3346 thousand people, there is a decrease in the number of unemployed citizens, and, consequently, the unemployment rate tends to decrease from 11.7% to 7.7%.

At the end of December 2008, the unemployment rate in the country was 7.7%. At the end of 2008, there was a “moderate increase” in unemployment, which was caused by a decline in employment in the construction, trade, services and financial sectors. Since the beginning of the year, there have been massive layoffs in all areas of activity. At the end of January 2009, the number of unemployed people was 6.1 million, which is 8.1% of the country's total working population. According to conservative forecasts, by the end of the year the number of unemployed may increase to 7 million people.

Figure 3 - Unemployment rate in the Russian Federation for the period 1999-2010.

The problem of ensuring women's employment in Russia is the most acute. Its solution requires joint efforts of government authorities, women's public organizations, employment services, as well as significant financial investments.

According to 2008 data, of the total number of unemployed in the country, men account for 3,146 thousand people, women 2,904 thousand people.

Today, in a situation of extreme instability, it is women who make up the majority of the “new Russian poor”; they are the ones who are most subject to discrimination in employment and the labor market and are more likely than other categories of employees to lose their social status in employment.

Average age of unemployed in February 2010 was 35.6 years. Young people under 25 make up 25.8% of the unemployed, including those aged 15-19 years - 5.3%, 20-24 years - 20.5%. High unemployment rates are observed in the age group 15-19 years (32.4%) and 20-24 years (17.1%).

The main features of the current demographic situation in modern Russia are: significant scale of population decline; low birth rate, widespread one-child family, which does not ensure the reproduction of the population; the continuing aging of the population, changes in the ratio between workers and pensioners, exacerbating the problems of pension provision; huge population losses from excess mortality of men, especially from accidents, poisoning and injuries; family crisis, high divorce rate; dependence of the rate of population decline on the level of compensation for natural loss of external migration; significant volumes of forced migration and illegal migration; reduction in the volume of internal migration, reduction in population mobility.

Figure 4 - Population of Russia in 1950-2010.

The persistent absolute decline in population that began in 1992 became alarming by the end of the decade.

Russia's population will continue to decline, on average by about 0.6-0.8 million people annually, and the size of the loss will be determined both by the difference between mortality and birth rates, and by the size of the migration increase. Natural population decline, as the main cause of depopulation in Russia, is stable and long-term.

The current parameters of the population itself (age structure) and its reproduction are such that the population of Russia in the 21st century will continue to decline and in 5-6 decades, in the worst case scenario, it may be approximately halved.

The country's population as of January 1, 1992 was 148.5 million people, as of January 1, 2000 - 146.9 million people. Reduction for 1992-2000 amounted to 1.6 million people. As of January 1, 2010, the population of Russia is 141.9 million people. Population decline in 2000-2010 already amounted to 5 million people.

Figure 5 - Mortality in Russia, thousand people per year:

The main reason for population decline is excess mortality. In Russia, about 15 people per 1000 people die annually. In terms of mortality rate per 1000 population, Russia in July 2009 was in 12th place from the bottom in the global ranking. Our neighbors in this ranking are Nigeria, Zimbabwe, Chad, Somalia. In Russia, African mortality rates have been maintained for many years. In terms of life expectancy, on the contrary, our country ranks 162nd in the world (66 years), behind countries such as Papua New Guinea, Honduras and even Iraq (144th place and about 70 years). Particularly striking are the figures for the average life expectancy of men, who, according to Rosstat, live only 61.4 years. (Life expectancy in EU countries is on average 79 years, in the USA - 78, in Canada - 81, in Japan - 82 years.) Speaking about the need to stop population decline, the authorities are constantly speculating on the topic of fertility, pushing us to the idea that that Russians need to “give birth more.”

Figure 6 - Dynamics of the number of births and deaths in Russia in 1990-2009, in million people

The birth rate in Russia as a whole is at a normal level for a European country - approximately 11 newborns per 1000 people per year (with a mortality rate of 15 people per 1000).

An excessively rapid increase in the birth rate in a poor country, especially in low-income segments of the population (who receive incentives to give birth thanks to government measures such as “maternity capital”), can lead to negative consequences: a decrease in the standard of living of the population, poor care of newborns, and their high morbidity.

In the country today, about 1 million 600 thousand babies are born a year, while about 2 million 100 thousand citizens die.

Figure 7 - Average life expectancy in Russia in 1990-2009

The increase in mortality in Russia began under Brezhnev, in the 1970s, and continued until the mid-1990s. Since 1995, however, mortality in Russia has declined and in 1998 dropped to below 2 million people per year.

However, over the past ten years, the upward trend in mortality has gained new strength, reaching a new peak in 2003 - 2.37 million people. It has still not been possible to reduce the mortality rate below 2 million people per year.

2.2 Mechanisms for implementing social policy

The main government institutions implementing social policy in Russia include:

President of Russian Federation;

State Council;

The State Duma;

Council of the Federation;

Federal executive authorities (ministries, services, agencies, funds) implementing state policy in the social sphere within the framework of their powers and areas of competence;

Public Chamber of the Russian Federation;

Public Council on Housing Policy under the Ministry of Regional Development of the Russian Federation.

In addition, in Russia there are a large number of research organizations dealing with social policy issues; Below are just a few of them:

All-Russian Center for Living Standards (ACLS);

Institute for Socio-Political Research of the Russian Academy of Sciences (ISPR RAS);

Research by the Ufa Scientific Center of the Russian Academy of Sciences (ISEI Ufa Scientific Center of the Russian Academy of Sciences);

Institute of Socio-Economic Problems of Population RAS (ISEPP RAS);

Institute of Sociology RAS (IS RAS);

Institute for Comparative Social Research (CESSI);

Independent Institute for Social Policy (NISP), etc.

Plus, the role of non-profit organizations (NPOs) as active participants in social policy is gradually growing in society.

Enterprises, as the main economic entities in the economy, can also rightfully be considered as participants in social policy at the micro level.

Unfortunately, within the framework of course work it is difficult to reflect all the diversity and interconnection of the functions and activities of the above-mentioned subjects of social policy. However, the study allows us to conclude that currently in Russia the resource for developing social partnership between the authorities, business and civil society is actively developing.

Assessment of the main directions of state social policy

Analyzing the main directions and assessing the effectiveness of social policy pursued in Russia, the author of the course work was faced with many opinions, often polar in content. The number of experts speaking out on this issue is infinitely large. In this regard, three points of view are presented below: official (state), public (results of population surveys), and scientific (expert) - which, according to the author of the course work, best give an idea of state social policy.

So, according to data from the Yuri Levada Analytical Center (Levada-Center), which regularly conducts public surveys on social issues, Russians’ opinions on this issue are as follows (see Appendix B):

Over the past five years, the vast majority of citizens were primarily concerned about rising prices (more than 70% of respondents). And this is not surprising, because inflation in Russia is still at a high level (8.8% at the end of 2009);

The problem of rising unemployment, compared to 2005, began to worry a significantly larger portion of Russians (56% of respondents in June 2009 versus 25% in 2008). This result is also quite understandable - in February 2009, the unemployment rate reached its peak since the start of the crisis (9.4%);

The problem of poverty in June 2009, despite the crisis, worries fewer people than it was in 2005. The statistics given in paragraph 2.1.1 of the course work fully explain this dynamics.

Among other pressing social problems that received more than 20% of the votes, the following were noted:

Sharp stratification between rich and poor, unfair distribution of income (again, the opinion of society is confirmed by official statistics - see paragraph 2.1.1);

Inaccessibility of many types of medical care;

Crisis of morality, culture, ethics;

Corruption, bribery;

Increase in drug addiction;

Increasing fees, inaccessibility of education.

In this regard, it is of interest what the authorities are doing about this and how they evaluate their efforts. Below are the abstracts of the speech of the Minister of Health and Social Development of the Russian Federation T.A. Golikova at the opening of the First Conference of Ministers of the Member States of the Council of Europe:

“...Due to the financial crisis and decline in production, significant groups of the population of our countries suffered material losses. Many groups of the population have developed distrust in existing financial and economic mechanisms. Today, social cohesion faces new challenges and new risks.

And in this regard, we, the heads of social ministries, have to solve a difficult problem. On the one hand, we must soften the blows of the crisis on the most vulnerable groups of the population, on the other hand, in discussions with representatives of financial and economic ministries, we must defend the volume of financial resources allocated by the state to fulfill social obligations.

The Russian Federation has made a fundamental decision that even in the context of the current global financial crisis, all social obligations undertaken in the period before the financial crisis will be fulfilled at the proper level. Social obligations included in the budget of the Russian Federation are not subject to reduction during the financial crisis.

In immediate response mode, we took special measures to reduce social tension, primarily in relation to the deteriorating situation on the labor market. At the highest government level, monitoring of employee layoffs due to the liquidation of organizations or staff reductions is organized and carried out weekly. We are closely monitoring the transition of a number of enterprises to reduced working hours.

The Russian Federation has allocated additional, very significant funds for advanced professional training of workers in the event of a threat of mass layoffs. And also for the creation of temporary jobs, the organization of public works, the organization of the relocation of laid-off workers to work in another area. Naturally, with their desire and consent. Special events are being carried out to develop small businesses and self-employment of unemployed citizens.

The employment situation in the Russian Federation is under control. Rapid response measures in most regions of Russia are working quite effectively. The focus of the regional authorities is the employment of people with low incomes, as well as unemployment among those citizens who, for objective reasons, do not have sufficient competitiveness in the labor market.

Even during this difficult period, we intend to continue large-scale reforms in the social sphere.

The pension system for citizens of the Russian Federation is actively developing and will continue to develop in the future. Especially in terms of state assistance to additional pension insurance.

It came into force on October 1, 2008, and on January 1, 2009, the state began to co-finance the funded part of citizens’ labor pensions. Part of the contributions to the funded part of the future pension is paid by the citizen, the other part is paid by the state (12 thousand rubles per year). The third party to co-financing may be the employer, who receives tax benefits for this. Already today, in the five months the law has been in effect, more than 1 million Russian citizens have taken advantage of this right.

The improvement and development of the state system of material support for young families who have given birth to second and subsequent children continues. This year, families who took out mortgage loans to purchase housing were given the opportunity to use funds from the so-called maternal family capital (which amounts to 300 thousand rubles) to repay mortgage loans. The federal budget has allocated significant funds for these purposes in the amount of up to 26 billion rubles (approximately 580 million euros).

Serious changes will also be carried out in the healthcare sector. This year it is planned to adopt the Concept of Healthcare Development for the period up to 2020. The goal is to significantly improve the quality of medical services and increase the availability of medical care for all groups of the population without exception.

The key area of healthcare will be the formation of a healthy lifestyle, nurturing in every person the need to strengthen their health and the health of their children.

First of all, this is overcoming bad habits (alcohol and tobacco consumption), developing a physical education and health system, and significantly improving labor safety and health protection in the workplace.

Large-scale organizational, structural, financial and economic transformations, which are expected to be carried out in Russian healthcare, are aimed at solving this problem.

The volume of financial support for the state guarantee program in 2009, despite the financial crisis, almost doubles compared to 2008. Absolutely all sectors of society, including representatives of business, public and non-governmental institutions, are involved in overcoming the problems of the financial crisis.

Now it is especially important that the well-functioning mechanism of social partnership does not fail. Hearing and understanding each other, finding a compromise and a mutually acceptable solution is the main task in social dialogue.

...Our task today is to minimize the social consequences that the financial crisis generates and to avoid any further social upheavals.”

As a third party opinion, below is an excerpt from a lecture by E.G. Gontmakher. “Social Policy in the Context of the Russian Crisis”, read on March 12, 2009 at the club-literary cafe Bilingua as part of the project “Public Lectures “Polit.ru”:

“...You know that Rosstat regularly publishes the Gini coefficient and various stratification coefficients. They are growing. And they have been growing in recent years. The principle is this: the rich get richer faster than the poor get richer. This principle existed even before recent times. The problem is not just the income numbers. We have some very interesting numbers. Half of the working population does not go to the doctor. Including those who are in need. Because either there is no money or there is no desire to stand in lines. The fact is glaring.

...But it's not just about income. The fact is that more than half of our population is cut off from modern benefits: quality medical care, quality education, including school education. What have we got? At one time we said that there should be social mobility, mixing of different layers, etc. But this did not happen for us.

...In Japan, a system has developed in which a person’s life depends on which kindergarten he ends up in. And in our country this ossified social scheme has developed regardless of the crisis.

...How can we evaluate this process? I consider it negative. I am not exaggerating how these processes occur in the West. There are also a lot of problems there. But still there is more equality of living conditions there. We say that the Far East and Siberia are being exposed. What are these bad people, who are leaving there? Are these deserters who don’t want to defend our cities from the Chinese? No. A person is looking for where it is better. And goes to Moscow.

...We are now discussing the problem of the middle class. According to research done by the Independent Institute for Social Policy, a very respected institution, the middle class has not increased in seven years. There is no demand for it. The middle class also includes normal jobs that involve intensive intellectual work. We have no demand for these jobs. Data show that we have become dependent on gas, oil, and timber even more than in 1999, when we began to emerge from the crisis of 1998.

Priority directions of state social policy

The most important priorities of the state’s social policy in modern conditions are: the creation of optimal social infrastructure and its development; problems of environmental protection and protection; society's income distribution policy; social and demographic policy; problems of employment and social protection of the population. Problems of state regulation of employment will be discussed in the next chapter.

l Secondly, in the process of implementation ND is repeatedly redistributed both between its creator and and among persons engaged in unproductive labor. Incomes resulting from redistribution are called derivatives. The main instrument for the redistribution of income is the state budget. ND is also redistributed through the service sector.

In recent years, even in some developed countries, inequality in income distribution has been widening. There is no need to talk about Russia.

Closely related to the problem of inequality is the issue of poverty. Is it possible to define poverty? Obviously. It is possible to identify those boundaries of family income beyond which population reproduction is not ensured. This level should act as a minimum level of material security, or a living wage (the so-called threshold or poverty line). More than 30% of Russians are below the poverty line. All population groups living below this line are poor.

The poverty line in the United States is determined by the Department of Commerce based on the necessary objective needs of a person and the cost of living for a certain period. Thus, in 1990, the poverty line was estimated for a family of one person at $7,740 per year, for a family of two - $104 6, for a family of three - $13,078, for a family of four - $15,730

Social and geographical policy. As is known, the central place in demography is occupied by population reproduction, which second occurs due to the natural change of generation, i.e. through fertility and fertility. True, the population of individual regions changes due to migration. Outside Russia in other former republics, i.e. In the CIS countries, over 25 million Russians and about 4 million citizens of other nationalities live. By the beginning of 1995, there were about 670 thousand refugees in Russia. Therefore, the priority areas of gaming policy are:

Social protection, guarantee and support of the population

Advancement towards the market is impossible without the creation of a reliable system of social protection of the population, capable of ensuring the maximum possible neutralization of negative phenomena in the economy. That is, a mechanism must be created to protect the population from such social risk factors as unemployment and inflation.

Social protection- a system of measures aimed at creating conditions that ensure the economic and moral well-being of vulnerable, unprotected segments of the population, as well as providing them with additional rights and benefits:

On taxation and payment of pensions and benefits

For the construction and maintenance of housing, as well as its receipt and acquisition;

For public utility services and trade services;

On employment, training, retraining and working conditions;

For the use of services of communication institutions and sports and recreational institutions;

3) ensuring environmental safety and maintaining the environment at the required level;

Enhance targeting social support for needy citizens based on taking into account the financial situation of families and applicant's the principle of assigning benefits;

To create adequate living conditions for families, women, and youth, to improve the living conditions of children;

Increase the role of social insurance as an important mechanism for protecting citizens in the event of loss of earnings in the event of unemployment, illness, or other social and professional risks;

Ensure stable financing of social sectors and social programs, guarantee access to medical care, social services, education, culture and recreation for all citizens.

Reforms in the social sphere will be carried out in close connection with the economic transformations outlined in the concept of the medium-term program of the Government of the Russian Federation for 1997,000 Structural adjustment and economic growth." Taking into account the projected indicators of economic development in the coming period, there will be real opportunities for solving the social problems set. .

An annual increase in gross domestic product and investment in fixed capital, an increase in the volume of industrial and agricultural production, a further reduction in inflation and the budget deficit, a strengthening of the national currency, and an increase in the share of expenditures on final consumption of households in the gross domestic product used are envisaged.

A set of measures has been outlined aimed at implementing institutional reforms, progressive structural changes in production, reforming the tax system, budget and monetary policy. On this basis, favorable conditions will be formed for the development of modern competitive industries and activities, first of all high-tech and knowledge-intensive sectors of the economy, small and medium-sized businesses, changes in the sectoral structure of production and its territorial expansion, improving the quality of products and production efficiency, increasing labor productivity, reducing production costs, creating new jobs

As a result, a reliable economic basis will be created to increase employment and income of the population, expand the tax base and increase the volume of funds allocated for social needs and development of the social sphere.

At the same time, more active use of social factors and planned measures to improve the financial situation of people, increase the monetary income of the population, ensure a rational employment structure, improve the quality and competitiveness of the workforce will create favorable conditions for sustainable development of the economy, increasing production volumes, and increasing effective demand for goods and services.

Based on the projected indicators of socio-economic development of the Russian Federation for the period up to 2000, the intended goals of social policy can be implemented in stages.

l At the first stage (1996-1997), in conditions of limited resource capabilities of the economy, it is necessary to implement a set of measures to stabilize the standard of living of the population, gradually reduce poverty, reduce the gap in living standards between different categories of the population, prevent mass unemployment, strengthen the protection of labor and social rights of citizens.

The most important of these measures are:

Elimination and prevention of future arrears in payment of wages, pensions and benefits;

Streamlining the current system of benefits and compensation, increasing the validity of their provision;

Formation of a system of state minimum social standards;

Legislative consolidation of the procedure for determining and using the subsistence level indicator, clarification of the methodology for its calculation based on the actual costs of food and non-food products, housing and communal services, transport, household, medical and other services;

Preventing the mass release of workers from enterprises located in regions with a critical situation on the labor market.

When carrying out these measures, the main emphasis will be on increasing the efficiency of using funds allocated for social needs, strengthening the targeting of social support, and wider attraction of extra-budgetary financial sources.

It is necessary to determine the procedure for interaction in the field of social policy between federal executive authorities, executive authorities of the constituent entities of the Russian Federation and local governments, federal ministries and departments, public and commercial organizations.

l At the second stage (1998-2000), when economic growth will begin and material and financial opportunities to increase spending on social needs, objective prerequisites will be created for the real growth of cash incomes of the population, eradicating mass poverty, and ensuring an optimal level of employment. At this stage it is planned:

Raise the minimum state guarantees of wages and labor pensions to the level of the subsistence level, introduce a new social standard for remuneration - an hourly wage rate;

Introduce mechanisms for tariff regulation of wages in the non-budgetary sector of the economy on the basis of social partnership, revise the Unified tariff schedule for remuneration of public sector workers, while ensuring approximation wage rates these workers to the level of wages in manufacturing sectors;

Revise the system of taxation of individual monetary incomes of the population in order to more equitably distribute income and reduce their differentiation;

Begin implementing a comprehensive program to create and retain jobs;

Create a full-fledged system for protecting the labor rights of citizens based on the new Labor Code;

Initiate large-scale pension reform;

Start reforming the social insurance system, introduce a new mechanism for insurance against industrial accidents and occupational diseases;

Improve the procedure for the formation of budget expenditures for social needs based on the introduction of state minimum social standards.

Subsequently, on the basis of stable economic growth and strengthening the orientation of the economy towards more effectively meeting human needs, it is necessary to create strong prerequisites for sustainable social development, the formation of a society open to broad social integration, allowing people to realize their potential to the maximum extent.

Regulation of social processes in a market economy (using the example of Germany)

Contents and goals of the social market economy

A social market economy is an economy that is focused on the person and the satisfaction of his needs, on the need to adapt the economic policy of the state to the person, and not, on the contrary, the person to the economic policy.

This path leads to a free, economically efficient, stable order in society. A legal social state must ensure economic freedom and social justice in a social market economy. Therefore, the concept of a social market economy should reflect a combination of goals - freedom and justice.

The social market economy is built on competition, private initiative, self-interest and social progress. Every member of society has fundamental rights: to well-being and free, comprehensive development of the individual, to human dignity.

Economic economic freedom includes:

1. Freedom of consumers to buy at their own discretion goods and services that are part of the social product (freedom of consumption).

2. Freedom of the owner of the means of production to use labor and money, resources and property, as well as entrepreneurial abilities at his own discretion (freedom of trade, freedom to choose a profession and workplace, freedom to use property).

3. Freedom of entrepreneurs to produce and sell goods at their own discretion (freedom of production and trade).

4. The freedom of every seller and buyer of goods or services to achieve their goals (freedom of competition).

Let us consider, using the example of Germany, how social justice is realized through the main goals of a social market economy. These goals include:

1. Ensuring the highest possible level of well-being.

Means of achievement: economic policy focused on economic growth, increasing the level and quality of life of the people; establishing an economically rational order and competition; full employment of the population; economic freedom of economic entities; freedom of foreign trade, etc.

2. Ensuring an economically efficient and socially fair monetary system and, in particular, ensuring stability of the general price level.

Means of achievement: the existence of an independent Central Bank of Issue; "stability" of the state budget; equalization of the balance of payments and balance in foreign trade.

3. Social security, justice and social progress (family protection, fair distribution of income and property).

Means of achievement: production of the maximum volume of social product; government adjustment of the initial distribution of national income; setting social standards; well-functioning social assistance system, etc.

In a word, a social market economy must be based on freedom of competition, private enterprise and government regulation of the economy.

State policy to ensure full employment

The best guarantee against the risk of unemployment is the state employment policy. The success of the full employment policy in the national economic aspect means the production of a social product in a larger volume, which significantly expands the basis for achieving the effectiveness of the state's social policy. From the point of view of employees, this policy has a positive impact on their current income. This income guarantee has a multiple effect:

It removes the need to provide unemployment benefits, social assistance and other types of assistance;

Constant concern for labor income forces, first of all, personal concern for one’s own life benefits, as well as for members of one’s family;

Economic dependence on the state is reduced.

All this together gives rise to faith in life and hope for the fulfillment of one’s needs through participation in the economic sphere. Full employment also has a lasting impact on the labor market (labor force) and on employment conditions:

Full employment, as a rule, is characterized by a state of general rapid growth in labor income (in labor markets the supply for most professions and activities is reduced; favorable conditions are created for negotiations with employers with the participation of a trade union, etc.);

Full employment increases the interdependence of the labor market (depletion of labor reserves in the regional and professional labor markets) and affects labor demand in other labor markets.

In order to attract labor from other markets, employers must (are forced) to improve working conditions. Local employers, due to the danger of labor outflow, are also forced to further improve working conditions and increase wages.

Legal basis for the provision of social assistance

The legal basis for the provision of social assistance in developed countries is the law on social assistance, which reflects the goals, principles and types of such assistance. For example, in German federal law the goals of social assistance are defined as follows:

Social assistance is provided to ensure livelihoods, as well as in special life circumstances.

Acceptance of social assistance is intended to provide its recipient with a standard of living consistent with human dignity.

Social assistance also aims at the following circumstance: to contribute to the maximum extent to ensure that a person does not take this possibility into account in his life. Everyone must rely primarily on their own strengths, if, of course, they have any.

When providing social assistance, compliance is expected, for example, with the following principles:

The legal right to receive social assistance must be formalized. Foreigners and stateless persons also have this right, but with certain restrictions on payments.

The recipient of social assistance must be reintegrated (i.e. returned) as a normal person into the community of people. The recipient should be helped to get rid of social assistance as quickly as possible: one - sent to work; another who does not want to work should be brought to work; third - to cure the patient, restore his working capacity, etc.

Social assistance must be preceded by preventive (proactive) measures to overcome the critical situation in whole or in part.

The basis of social assistance should be that the recipient takes initiative and activity to return to the community of people.

The social assistance system must operate on the principle of an individual approach to each case of its provision.

The levers of social assistance should be turned on only when other possibilities for providing assistance to those in need have already been exhausted. It should be noted that there are a wide variety of types of social assistance:

Individual assistance in counseling on personal issues;

Cash payments to low-income families, provision of unemployment benefits, etc.;

Compensation for contributions to the pension insurance fund, payment for funerals and other funeral services;

Non-monetary assistance, for example, provision of work, assistance in vocational training;

Guardianship, treatment by a doctor, inpatient treatment, etc.

During the economic reform in Russia, contradictions in the choice of a model of a democratic society emerged. The fundamental differences in the approach to this problem are based on three main issues: strengthening the role of the state, the relationship between different forms of ownership, the degree to which social problems are solved within the framework of the concept of “social justice”. These issues are implemented when choosing a market economy model.

The most preferred model is socially oriented model of market economy. It is based on the free coexistence of various forms of ownership, a strong social function of the state, indicative planning and forecasting. This model is typical mainly for European, and especially Scandinavian countries, as well as Israel and Canada. This development path is chosen by China, South Korea, and the rapidly developing countries of Latin America and the Arab East.

Consequently, the strategy for further actions of the Russian Federation should be a movement towards modern forms of a socially oriented market economy.

LITERATURE

Law of the Russian Federation"On the basics of social services for the population in the Russian Federation."

Program social reforms in the Russian Federation for the period 1996-1997.

Medium term program of the Government of the Russian Federation for 1997-2000. "Structural Adjustment and Economic Growth."

Program Government of the Russian Federation "Reforms and development of the Russian economy in 1995-1997".

Social politics and the labor market: issues of theory and practice. - M., 1996.

Introduction into a market economy / Ed. A. Livshits and I. Nikulina. - M., 1994, chapter 13.

Dolan D. and Lindsay F. Market: microeconomic model. - St. Petersburg, 1992, ch. 19.

Lampert X. Social market economy. The German way. - M., 1993.

Basics market economy. Ed. V. Kamaeva and B. Domnenko. - M., 1991, ch. 19.

Market economy. Textbook. - M.: Somintek, 1992, vol. 1, chapter 14.

Textbook on the basics of economic theory. - M., 1994, ch. 16.

Market economy. Textbook. - M., 1993, ch. 19.

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The previous section showed that the acceleration or deceleration of economic growth affects the volume of employment and the standard of living of the population. Economic activity of people ultimately has the goal of creating a material base for improving living conditions. However, the market mechanism cannot automatically solve all social problems, so the state corrects the market through social policy. In the broad sense of the word social It is customary to name everything that directly relates to society, people, and their lives.

15.1. The essence and main directions of social policy

Social politics - a system of measures carried out by the state to solve social problems related to meeting people's needs.

However, this general definition needs to be specified and clarified. Every society consists of a variety of social groups, each of which has its own interests, values and needs. Social benefits - material and spiritual are in short supply; they are not enough to meet the needs of everyone. As a result, competition is created between groups for mastery of sources of social benefits, including the right to establish rules for their distribution. The main lever for realizing the interests of social groups is power, which makes it possible for some social groups to impose their will on other groups through state institutions.

Social policy covers social sphere:

material conditions of non-productive human activity - housing, services, healthcare, education, trade, catering, public transport, material resources for culture and sports, etc.;

intangible benefits - a set of various types of spiritual activity, including self-organization and self-government.

The goal of social policy is to achieve social justice and reducing social inequality. The categories “social justice” and “social equality” are not identical. It cannot be assumed that the presence of social inequality means social injustice, that achieving social justice will eliminate social inequality.

Social inequality there is an unequal situation in the social sphere, it is expressed in the fact that some groups of the population consume more than others, play a greater role in the management, for example, of production, have greater opportunities for leisure, etc. Is this fair or not? Such a question in abstract form makes no sense. Equity assessment depends on the norms and values of a particular society, on the state of mass and group consciousness in a particular historical time. What is considered fair in a given society may have been perceived as unjust in the past, and

turnover This means that social policy is historical in nature and changes over time.

In principle, social justice in a society with a market economy is associated with the distribution of benefits in accordance with the achieved level of labor and production efficiency. In a number of developed countries, recently, social justice involves ensuring a decent standard of living for every citizen, equalizing the standard of living of people.

The emergence of a trend towards social leveling in developed countries it is expressed in the formation of the so-called middle class, which includes that part of the population that has a stable and relatively high level of income. For example, in the United States the middle class makes up approximately 70% of the total population.

A market economy presupposes the presence and persistence of social inequality, since in the course of competition some economic entities achieve high levels of efficiency and income, while others, acting less successfully, suffer losses or even go bankrupt. Ultimately, this inequality is determined by the differences between market participants in their abilities, knowledge, and skills.

However, at a higher phase of its development, the market provides conditions for social equalization, but only within certain limits. There are two explanations for this:

The market by its nature is a form of compromise between its participants. Its results can be realized only under the condition of mutual, reciprocal satisfaction of needs;

at a higher stage of development, with market saturation and intense competition, sales participants are interested in high consumer incomes.

In some cases, the contradictions between social groups can be so great that the function of the social equalization market can be erased, then a strong state social policy is necessary.

Under normal conditions, the state only carries out market correction ka. It consists in the development and implementation of certain principles.

1. Determination of the degree of freedom. State policy should be based on providing freedom of activity, self-realization of group interests, but within the framework of adopted laws. The freedom and rights of some citizens are limited by the freedom and rights of other citizens.

2 Solving social problems by the state by coordinating the interests of various social groups, finding a compromise between them.

3. Joint responsibility of social groups in relation to those citizens of the country who are weak or limited in their labor capabilities.

Main goals social policy:

the formation of such levels of well-being among various groups of the population, the differentiation of which would not contradict the principles of social justice;

creation in society of such mechanisms for creating welfare that would stimulate the population to work effectively and develop the economy;

satisfaction of reasonable material needs of all members of society in amounts that maximally contribute to the development of the human personality.

Social policy performance indicators - level and quality of life of the population. The quality of life characterizes the general conditions in which people live, the entire range of its properties, reflects the degree to which people’s needs are met, comfort, convenience of living conditions, their adaptability to modern requirements, painlessness and duration

Concept "standard of living" to a greater extent characterizes the quantitative measure of people’s well-being, the level of consumption of material goods. To assess the standard of living, indicators such as consumption of basic products per capita or for one family, which are then compared with consumption standards. Indicators are important for assessing living standards consumption patterns (for food, durable goods, services, etc.).

Widely accepted standard of living indicators include cash income of the population per person or family.

Social policy includes two main parts: income policy and employment policy.

PLAN.

Introduction
1. History of the evolution of ideas about the role of the state in the economy

Mercantelists
Classical theory
Keynesian theory
Neoclassical theory

2. Functions of the state in the economy

antitrust regulation

3. Methods of government influence on the market

government spending
taxation
government regulation
public entrepreneurship

4. Problems and limitations of government intervention

deregulation and privatization
state regulation in agriculture

Conclusion
List of used literature

Introduction.

The problem of government intervention in the economy is, in my opinion, fundamental for any state, regardless of whether it is a market economy or a distribution economy. In a distributive economy, everything is simpler: the state assumes all rights and responsibilities for the production and distribution of goods and services. That is, there is no need to talk about regulation: the state simply has no one to regulate. In this case, we are talking about replacing the entire variety of forms of ownership and ways of answering the question “What, how and for whom to produce?” one single form of ownership - state, and the answer to the basic economic question - strict centralization and distribution. However, such a system has actually shown to be ineffective. The market path of development remains. But in a market economy, the state has to constantly adjust the depth of influence. The state does not face such tasks as direct production and distribution of resources, goods and services. But it does not have the right to freely dispose of resources, capital and produced goods, as is done in a distributive economy. In my opinion, the state must constantly balance, either increasing or decreasing the degree of intervention. The market system is, first of all, flexibility and dynamism in decision-making on the part of both consumers and producers. State policy simply does not have the right to lag behind changes in the market system, otherwise it will turn from an effective stabilizer and regulator into a bureaucratic superstructure that slows down the development of the economy.

1. HISTORY OF THE EVOLUTION OF PERSPECTIVES ABOUT THE ROLE OF THE STATE IN THE ECONOMY.

Mercantelists.

The history of government regulation dates back to the end of the Middle Ages. At that time, the main economic school was the mercantelist school. She proclaimed active government intervention in the economy. Mercantelists argued that the main indicator of a country's wealth is the amount of gold. In this regard, they called for encouraging exports and curbing imports.

Classical theory.

The next stage in the development of ideas about the role of the state was the work of A. Smith “An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations,” in which he argued that “the free play of market forces” (“laissez faire” principle) creates a harmonious structure” (Varga V. Role states in a market economy. MEiMO N11, 1992, p. 131).

According to the classical approach, the state must ensure the safety of human life and property, resolve disputes, in other words, do what the individual is either unable to do on his own or does it ineffectively. In his description of the market economy system, Adam Smith argued that it is the entrepreneur’s desire to achieve his private interests that is the main driving force of economic development, ultimately increasing the well-being of both himself and society as a whole.

The main thing was that basic economic freedoms should be guaranteed for all economic entities, namely freedom to choose the sphere of activity, freedom of competition and freedom of trade.

Keynesian theory.

In the 30s of our century, after a deep recession in the US economy, John Keynes put forward his theory, in which he refuted the views of the classics on the role of the state. Keynes's theory can be called "crisis" because he views the economy in a state of depression. According to his theory, the state should actively intervene in the economy due to the lack of mechanisms in the free market that would truly ensure the economy’s recovery from the crisis. Keynes believed that the state should influence the market in order to increase demand, since the cause of capitalist crises is the overproduction of goods.

He offered several tools. This is a flexible monetary policy, a new fiscal policy, etc. A flexible monetary policy allows one to step over one of the most serious barriers - wage inelasticity. This is achieved, Keynes believed, by changing the amount of money in circulation. As the money supply increases, real wages will decrease, which will stimulate investment demand and employment growth. With the help of fiscal policy, Keynes recommended that the state increase tax rates and use these funds to finance unprofitable enterprises. This will not only reduce unemployment, but also relieve social tension.

The main features of the Keynesian regulatory model are:

a high share of national income redistributed through the state budget;
creation of an extensive zone of state entrepreneurship based on the formation of state and mixed enterprises;
widespread use of fiscal and credit-financial regulators to stabilize the economic environment, smooth out cyclical fluctuations, maintain high growth rates and high levels of employment.

The model of government regulation proposed by Keynes helped to weaken cyclical fluctuations for more than two post-war decades. However, from about the beginning of the 70s. a discrepancy began to appear between the possibilities of state regulation and objective economic conditions. The Keynesian model could only be sustainable in conditions of high growth rates. High growth rates of national income created the possibility of redistribution without compromising capital accumulation. However, in the 70s, reproduction conditions deteriorated sharply. Phillips' law was disproven, according to which unemployment and inflation cannot rise simultaneously. Keynesian ways out of the crisis only unwinded the inflationary spiral. Under the influence of this crisis, a radical restructuring of the state regulation system took place and a new, neo-conservative model of regulation emerged.

Neoclassical theory.

The theoretical basis of the neoconservative model was the concepts of the neoclassical direction of economic thought.

The transformation of the state regulation model consisted of abandoning the influence on reproduction through demand, and instead the use of indirect measures to influence supply. Proponents of supply-side economics believe it is necessary to recreate the classical mechanism of accumulation and restore freedom of private enterprise. Economic post is considered as a function of capital accumulation, which is carried out from two sources: at the expense of own funds, i.e. capitalization of part of the profit and through borrowed funds (loans). Therefore, in accordance with this theory, the state must provide conditions for the process of capital accumulation and increasing production productivity.

The main obstacles on this path are high taxes and inflation. High taxes limit the growth of capital investment, and inflation makes credit more expensive and thereby makes it difficult to use borrowed funds for savings. Therefore, the neoconservatives proposed the implementation of anti-inflationary measures based on the recommendations of monetarists and the provision of tax benefits to entrepreneurs.

Reducing tax rates will reduce state budget revenues and increase its deficit, which will complicate the fight against inflation. Therefore, the next step will be to reduce government spending, stop using the budget to maintain demand and implement large-scale social programs. This also includes the policy of privatization of state property.

The next set of measures is the implementation of deregulation policies. This means the elimination of price and wage regulations, liberalization (softening) of antitrust laws, deregulation of the labor market, etc.

Thus, in the neoconservative model, the state can only indirectly influence the economy. The main role in the implementation of the country's economic development is given to market forces.

2. FUNCTIONS OF THE STATE IN THE ECONOMY.

State intervention in the economy pursues certain functions. As a rule, it corrects those “imperfections” that are inherent in the market mechanism and which it itself is either unable to cope with, or this solution is ineffective. The state takes responsibility for creating equal conditions for competition between entrepreneurs, for effective competition, and for limiting the power of monopolies. It also cares about the production of sufficient quantities of public goods and services, since the market mechanism is unable to adequately satisfy the collective needs of people.

The participation of the state in economic life is also dictated by the fact that the market does not ensure a socially fair distribution of income. The state should take care of the disabled, the poor, and the elderly. He also belongs to the sphere of fundamental scientific developments. This is necessary because for entrepreneurs it is very risky, extremely expensive and, as a rule, does not bring quick profits. Since the market does not guarantee the right to work, the state has to regulate the labor market and take measures to reduce unemployment.

In general, the state implements the political and socio-economic principles of a given community of citizens. It actively participates in the formation of macroeconomic market processes.

The role of the state in a market economy is manifested through the following important functions:

creation of a legal basis for making economic decisions. The state develops and adopts laws regulating business activities, determines the rights and responsibilities of citizens;
economic stabilization. The government uses fiscal and monetary policies to overcome the decline in production, smooth out inflation, reduce unemployment, maintain a stable price level and the national currency;
socially oriented distribution of resources.
The state organizes the production of goods and services that are not handled by the private sector. It creates conditions for the development of agriculture, communications, transport, determines spending on defense and science, forms programs for the development of education, healthcare, etc.;
ensuring social protection and social guarantees.

The state guarantees a minimum wage, old-age pensions, disability pensions, unemployment benefits, various types of assistance to the poor, etc.

Antitrust regulation.

Antimonopoly activity of the state is one of the most important areas of government intervention. Regulation is developing in two directions. In those few markets where conditions prevent the efficient functioning of the industry under competition, that is, in the so-called natural monopolies, the state creates public regulatory bodies to control their economic behavior. In most other markets where monopoly has not become a necessity, public control has taken the form of antitrust laws. Next, the features of regulating the activities of natural monopolies will be considered.

A natural monopoly exists when one firm can supply the entire market while enjoying lower unit costs achieved through scale. This is common in public utilities where large-scale operations are necessary to achieve low prices.

To ensure acceptable behavior of such monopolies, two options can be used: state ownership and state regulation.

For natural monopolies, a “fair” income is usually set, that is, a price equal to average gross costs. However, this entails a lack of incentive for the enterprise to reduce costs.

Thus, the purpose of industry regulation is to protect society from the market power of natural monopolies by regulating prices and quality of service. But it is necessary to use direct regulation only where it does not lead to a decrease in production efficiency. Regulation should not be used in cases where competition would provide a better supply of products to society.

Another type of control is antitrust laws.

This form of control has a rich history. In 1890 The famous Sherman Act was passed, prohibiting any type of collusion and any attempt to monopolize any industry. However, this wording was rather vague, which did not allow a clear definition of the crime. The next step was the Clayton Act of 1914. In principle, it was a continuation of the Sherman Act and only clarified some of its points.

That same year, the Federal Trade Commission was created. Her competence included monitoring the implementation of the above laws, as well as investigating dishonest actions on her own initiative. The Federal Trade Commission Act expanded the scope of illegal conduct and provided an independent antitrust agency with investigative powers.

A large number of antimonopoly laws and various clarifications to them prove the extreme importance of these laws for society. Indeed, uncontrolled monopoly power can bring significant losses to society through the use of unfair competition, which will cause bankruptcy of small producers, consumer dissatisfaction with high prices and often poor quality of goods, a lag in scientific and technological progress and many other negative consequences. But, on the other hand, antitrust laws should not punish large manufacturers who do not use illegal methods of competition. If this condition is not met, then entrepreneurs will have significantly reduced incentives to make their enterprise stronger and produce more products.

Thus, the state acts as an arbiter who selects the optimal (and most effective) relationship between monopolies and competitive industries. In different periods of history for different countries, this ratio was different, adjusted to the peculiarities of economic development, and the state must skillfully and effectively use this mechanism.

3. METHODS OF GOVERNMENT INFLUENCE ON THE MARKET.

The state influences the market mechanism through its spending, taxation, regulation and public entrepreneurship.

Government spending.

They are considered one of the important elements of macroeconomic policy. They influence the distribution of both income and resources. Government expenditure consists of government purchases and transfer payments. Government purchases usually represent the acquisition of public goods (defense costs, construction and maintenance of schools, highways, research centers, etc.). Transfer payments are payments that redistribute tax revenues received from all taxpayers to certain segments of the population in the form of unemployment benefits, disability payments, etc. It should be noted that government purchases contribute to national income and directly use resources, while transfers do not use resources and are not related to production. Government procurement leads to a redistribution of resources from private to public consumption of goods. They enable citizens to use public goods. Transfer payments have another meaning: they change the structure of production of consumer goods. Amounts taken in the form of taxes from some segments of the population are paid to others. However, those to whom the transfers are intended spend this money on other goods, which results in a change in the consumption structure.

Another important instrument of government policy is taxation. Taxes are the main source of budget funds. States with market economies impose different types of taxes. Some of them are visible, such as income taxes, while others are not so obvious, as they are imposed on producers of raw materials and affect households indirectly in the form of higher prices for goods. Taxes cover both households and firms. Significant amounts go to the budget in the form of taxes (for example, in the United States, about 30 percent of the total cost of goods and services produced).

One of the main problems is the fairness of distribution of the tax burden. There are three main systems based on the concept of progressive taxation

the ratio of the amount levied as a tax on the income of a particular employee to the amount of this income.
proportional tax (the amount of tax is proportional to the employee’s income);
regressive tax (in percentage terms, the tax levied is lower, the higher the employee’s income);
progressive tax (in percentage terms, the higher the income, the higher the tax).

It seems to me that a progressive tax is the most fair, but the percentage increase in the tax should not be significant so as not to weaken the incentive to work, and therefore to earn more. As a rule, income tax is based on this principle. However, sales and excise taxes are actually regressive because they are generally passed on to consumers, of whom the same amount takes up a different share of their income.

The task of the state is to collect taxes in such a way as to meet the needs of the budget and at the same time not cause discontent among taxpayers. When tax rates are too high, massive tax evasion begins. At the present stage, exactly this situation is happening in Russia.

The state does not have enough funds, it increases taxes, entrepreneurs increasingly evade paying them, therefore, less and less funds go to the budget. The government is raising taxes again. It turns out to be a vicious circle. I believe that in this situation it is reasonable to lower taxes. This will reduce incentives for non-payment, make honest entrepreneurship more profitable, lead to more government revenue and reduce the level of criminalization of business.

Government regulation.

0designed to coordinate economic processes and link private and public interests. It is carried out in legislative, tax, credit and subvention forms. The legislative form of regulation regulates the activities of entrepreneurs. An example is antitrust laws. Tax and credit forms of regulation involve the use of taxes and credits to influence national output.

By changing tax rates and benefits, the government influences the contraction or expansion of production. When credit conditions change, the state influences a decrease or increase in production volume.

The subsidy form of regulation involves the provision of government subsidies or tax benefits to individual industries or enterprises. These usually include industries that form the general conditions for the formation of social capital (infrastructure). On the basis of subsidies, support can be provided in the field of science, education, personnel training, and in solving social programs. There are also special or targeted subsidies, which provide for the expenditure of budget funds according to strictly defined programs. The share of subventions in the GNP of developed countries is 5-10 percent. By issuing subsidies and reducing tax rates, the state thereby changes the distribution of resources, and subsidized industries are able to reimburse costs that cannot be covered at market prices.

State entrepreneurship.

0is carried out in those areas where economic management is contrary to the nature of private firms or requires huge investments and risk. The main difference from private entrepreneurship is that the primary goal of state entrepreneurship is not to generate income, but to solve socio-economic problems, such as ensuring the necessary growth rates, smoothing out cyclical fluctuations, maintaining employment, stimulating scientific and technological progress, etc. d. This form of regulation provides support for low-profit enterprises and sectors of the economy that are vital for reproduction. These are primarily sectors of economic infrastructure (energy, transport, communications). The problems solved by state entrepreneurship also include providing the population with benefits in various areas of social infrastructure, assistance to vital science- and capital-intensive sectors of the economy in order to accelerate scientific and technological progress and strengthening on this basis the country’s position in the world economy, carrying out regional policy - construction in economically backward areas of industrial enterprises, job creation, environmental protection through the introduction of waste-free technologies, construction of wastewater treatment plants, development of fundamental scientific research, production of goods, which by law is a state monopoly.

I believe that public entrepreneurship should develop only in those areas where there is simply no other way out. The fact is that, compared to private ones, state-owned enterprises are less efficient. A state enterprise, even if endowed with the broadest rights and responsibilities, always lags behind a private enterprise in the degree of economic independence. The activities of a state-owned enterprise probably contain both market and non-market motives coming from the state. Political motives are changeable, they depend on the government, orders of ministries, etc. Therefore, state-owned enterprises often find themselves in a complex and unclear environment, which is much more difficult to predict than market conditions. It is much easier to predict likely fluctuations in demand and prices than to predict the behavior of a new minister or official, whose decisions often determine the fate of an enterprise. Behind them there may be political goals that have nothing to do with market behavior (the desire to increase budget revenues, the desire to retain staff and increase wages, etc.).

As a rule, state-owned enterprises are not ready for market competition, since they rely not only on themselves, but also on special treatment from the authorities (subsidies, tax breaks, sales guarantees within the framework of government orders). State-owned enterprises have no obligations to shareholders; they are usually not threatened with bankruptcy. All this negatively affects the dynamics of costs and prices, the speed of development of new technologies, the quality of production organization, etc.

Competition in the field of commercial activity is also unacceptable because the private sector is drawn into corruption: through a bribe to an official one can achieve greater results than by reducing costs.

If the economy is saddled with too many state-owned enterprises, their workers find themselves in a difficult situation. They are the first victims of government policies aimed at overcoming emergency situations. Typically, people working in the public sector are the first to feel a wage freeze. Apparently, this is why the wave of privatization that swept through the economies of Western countries in the 1980s did not cause widespread protests from the bulk of those employed in the public sector. People hoped that, freed from state pressure, they would be able to fully take advantage of the advantages of a market economy and become co-owners of private enterprises.

4. PROBLEMS AND LIMITATIONS OF GOVERNMENT INTERVENTION.

It is obvious that a modern market system is unthinkable without government intervention. However, there is a line beyond which market processes become deformed and production efficiency decreases. Then, sooner or later, the question arises of denationalizing the economy, ridding it of excessive state activity. There are important limitations to regulation. For example, any government actions that destroy the market mechanism (total directive planning, comprehensive administrative control over prices, etc.) are unacceptable.

This does not mean that the state abdicates responsibility for uncontrolled price increases and should abandon planning. The market system does not exclude planning at the level of enterprises, regions and even the national economy; however, in the latter case it is usually “soft”, limited in terms of time, scale and other parameters, and acting in the form of national target programs. It should also be noted that the market is in many ways a self-adjusting system, and therefore it should be influenced only by indirect, economic methods. However, in a number of cases, the use of administrative methods is not only acceptable, but also necessary. You cannot rely only on economic or only administrative measures. On the one hand, any economic regulator carries elements of administration. For example, money circulation will feel the influence of such a well-known economic method as the central bank lending rate no earlier than an administrative decision is made. On the other hand, there is something economic in every administrative regulator in the sense that it indirectly affects the behavior of participants in the economic process. By resorting to, say, direct price control, the state creates a special economic regime for producers, forces them to revise production programs, look for new sources of investment financing, etc.

Among the methods of government regulation, there are no completely unsuitable and absolutely ineffective ones. All are needed, and the only question is to determine for each those situations where its use is most appropriate. Economic losses begin when authorities go beyond the bounds of reason, giving excessive preference to either economic or administrative methods.

We must not forget that economic regulators themselves should be used with extreme caution, without weakening or replacing market incentives. If the state ignores this requirement and launches regulators without thinking about how their action will affect the market mechanism, the latter begins to fail.

After all, monetary or tax policy in terms of its impact on the economy is comparable to central planning.

It must be borne in mind that among economic regulators there is not a single ideal one. Any of them, while bringing a positive effect in one area of the economy, will certainly have negative consequences in others. Nothing can be changed here. The state that uses economic regulatory instruments is obliged to control them and stop them in a timely manner. For example, the state seeks to curb inflation by limiting the growth of the money supply. From the point of view of fighting inflation, this measure is effective, but it leads to an increase in the cost of central and bank credit. And if interest rates rise, it becomes increasingly difficult to finance investments, and economic development begins to slow down. This is exactly how the situation is developing in Russia.

Deregulation and privatization.

Government intervention in the economy requires quite large expenditures. They include both direct costs (preparation of legislative acts and monitoring their implementation) and indirect costs (on the part of firms that must comply with government instructions and reporting). In addition, it is believed that government regulations reduce the incentive for innovation and the entry of new competitors into the industry, since this requires permission from the relevant commission.

According to American experts, government influence on economic life leads to a decline in growth rates by approximately 0.4% per year (Lipsey R., Steiner P., Purvis D. Economics, N.Y. 1987, P.422).

Due to certain imperfections, government intervention sometimes entails losses. In this regard, in recent years the issue of deregulation of the economy and privatization has become more acute. Deregulation involves the removal of legislation that hinders the entry of potential competitors into the market and sets prices for certain goods and services. For example, in the United States in the 1980s, deregulation affected trucks, rail and air transport. As a result, prices have dropped and passenger service has improved. For American society, deregulation of freight transportation, air and rail transport brought benefits estimated at $39-63 billion, $15 billion, respectively. and 9-15 billion dollars. per year (Economic Report of the President, Wash., 1989. P. 188).

Privatization - the sale of state-owned enterprises to individuals or organizations - is aimed at increasing economic rationality. It is caused by the fact that state-owned enterprises turn out to be unprofitable and ineffective. Western economists emphasize that the public sector does not provide such a powerful incentive to reduce costs and generate powerful profits as private enterprise does.

For an entrepreneur - one of two things: profit or loss. If a private enterprise suffers losses for a long time, it closes. A state-owned enterprise is provided with assistance, so it may not strive to increase its profitability.

This once again proves that government intervention is only needed where it is vitally necessary. In all other cases, the market will more effectively solve the assigned economic problems.

State regulation in agriculture.

In modern Western economies, agriculture is one of the most important areas of active intervention. In this area of production, the main principle of the free market, namely the game of supply and demand, turns out to be practically inapplicable.

True, government intervention is far from a panacea. For example, in Western Europe, governments have traditionally paid great attention to the problems of the agricultural market, but neither producers nor consumers are satisfied with the state of affairs in the agricultural sector.

The source of the problems is that in developed countries, due to high labor productivity, the production of agricultural products significantly exceeds the needs of the population.

The goals of state regulation in the field of agriculture include:
a) increasing productivity through the introduction of technical progress and rationalization of production, the most efficient use of all production factors, especially labor;
b) ensuring employment in the agricultural sector and an appropriate standard of living for the rural population;
c) stabilization of agricultural markets;
d) guaranteed supply of the domestic market;
e) concern for the supply of agricultural products to consumers at “reasonable prices”. (V. Varga “The role of the state in a market economy” - MEiMO, 1992, N 11, p. 139.)

The state sets and annually reviews minimum prices for the most important agricultural products. Thus, producers are protected from a sharp drop in prices. At the same time, the domestic market is protected from cheap imports and excessive price fluctuations through a system of additional import duties. Therefore, in EU countries, food prices are noticeably higher than world market prices. Costs in connection with the implementation of agricultural policy are borne by the state budget.

The functioning of this mechanism can be illustrated using the example of the grain market. The starting point is the estimated price recommended by the state. It is slightly higher than the market price, which not only guarantees the income of rural owners, but also creates incentives to expand production. As a result, supply exceeds demand. When the market price drops to a certain level, the grain offered by farmers is bought by the state at the so-called “intervention price” in unlimited quantities.

Thus, although each producer must bear the marketing risk himself, in reality this rule does not apply to producers of many agricultural products.

There are also mechanisms to protect against cheap imports and encourage exports. This means that upon import, an import duty is established that equates the price of the product to the domestic price. When exporting, the state pays exporters the difference between the domestic price and the world market price.

It should be noted that this policy provoked many problems. On the one hand, huge food reserves have been accumulated, on the other hand, there is discontent among the peasants who believe that their subsistence level is not provided. In this situation, large agro-industrial enterprises receive decent incomes, while small producers struggle to make ends meet.

Thus, agriculture remains a weak point of government regulation. However, it seems that the situation in agriculture will remain unchanged.

CONCLUSION.

Studying this topic provides plenty of food for thought. Very often the state is the root cause of changes in the economic behavior of entrepreneurs. The decisions made (or not made) at the micro level depend on the decisions made by the government. Government policies achieve goals only when they encourage rather than prescribe. When creating favorable conditions for entrepreneurs, their private interest will coincide with the interest of the state, that is, society. Consequently, the state should simply make the sector of the economy that is its highest priority more accessible to entrepreneurs.

It should be noted that the state should not interfere in those areas of the economy where its intervention is not necessary. This is not only unnecessary, but also harmful to the economy.

In general, it is difficult to overestimate the role of the state in the economy. It creates conditions for economic activity, protects entrepreneurs from the threat of monopolies, meets society's needs for public goods, provides social protection for low-income groups of the population, and resolves issues of national defense. On the other hand, government intervention can, in some cases, significantly weaken the market mechanism and cause significant harm to the country's economy, as was the case in France in the late 70s and early 80s. Due to too active government intervention, an outflow of capital began from the country, and the rate of economic growth dropped noticeably. In this case, privatization and deregulation are necessary, which was done in 1986.

It seems to me that the main task of the state is to maintain the “golden mean” in the sphere of influence on the market economy.

LIST OF REFERENCES USED.

V. Papava “The role of the state in the modern economic system”, Questions of Economics, N 11, 1993.
Livshits “The State in a Market Economy”, Russian Economic Journal, N 11-12, 1992, N1, 1993.
S. Holland "Planning and mixed economy", Questions of Economics, N 1, 1993.
V. Varga “The role of the state in a market economy”, MEiMO, N 10-11, 1992.
Zastavenko, Raizberg "State programs and the market", Economist, N 3, 1991.
I.P. Merzlyakov “On the formation of a market economy”, Finance, N 1, 1994.
E. Chuvilin, V. Dmitrieva “State regulation and price control in capitalist countries”, Moscow, “Finance and Statistics”, 1991.
K. McConnell, S. Brew "Economics", Tallinn, 1993.
V. Maksimova, A. Shishov "Market economics. Textbook", Moscow, SOMINTEK, 1992.