Source: No to command economy: Minister – DailyNews Live
STAFF WRITER 26 March 2017
HARARE – Zimbabwe has no plans to introduce command economy, Information
minister Chris Mushowe has said.
This comes after recent reports indicated that government intends to
introduce the Soviet-style model to revitalise the country’s ailing
economy and ease cash shortages.
A command or planned economy occurs when the government controls all major
aspects of the economy and economic production. In a command economy, it
is the government that decides what to produce, how to produce goods and
how to distribute goods and services within the economy.
Mushowe, however, said command economies, which were often associated with
the political system of Communism, had no place in modern-day societies.
“I am the chief spokesperson for government policy and I never said that
neither did government,” he told editors in a meeting on Friday.
“There is no command economy in Zimbabwe. You know we are not a command
economy.
“We respect property rights in this country and under that kind of
arrangement there would be no respect for property rights. We are not
communists,” the government spin doctor said.
A command economy works in contrast to a free market economy. In a free
market economy, goods and services are produced by private enterprise with
distribution occurring according to market forces.
Market experts said although command economies make it easier to mobilise
the resources of a country, the disadvantages outweigh the benefits.
The disadvantage of controlled economies is that the needs of the society
are often not fully met, since the market is driven by what the government
dictates rather than what people actually want.
As a result, it is common to find thriving black markets in such settings,
which people use to get access to any products they need but cannot get
through official government channels. Innovation is also frequently
stifled in such an economy because regulations may not change quickly
enough to take advantage of new ideas.
According to recent media reports a team of experts from President Robert
Mugabe’s office were already developing a work plan for the economic
programme.
This was after government’s command agriculture is alleged to have
performed beyond expectations.
“What we are looking at as government is to have command mining, command
health, command education so that we can revive our economy through these
models,” Vice President Emmerson Mnangagwa was quoted saying.
COMMENTS
Well done Chikara for the successful implementation of Command agriculture.Whatever Ngwena touches comes out with blessings from God.We are going to experience a bumper harevest this year thanks to the programme which is spearheaded by Chikara.The program has benefited a lot of people.We want to become a country which is dependend on agriculture and other sectors of the economy such as mining which will compliment education and health.