In Marxian economics, the commanding heights of the economy are certain strategically important economic sectors. Some examples of industries considered to be part of the commanding heights include public utilities, natural resources, and sectors relating to both foreign trade and domestic trade.

History

This phrase emerged from a branch of modern

political philosophy Political philosophy studies the theoretical and conceptual foundations of politics. It examines the nature, scope, and Political legitimacy, legitimacy of political institutions, such as State (polity), states. This field investigates different ...

concerned with organising

society A society () is a group of individuals involved in persistent social interaction or a large social group sharing the same spatial or social territory, typically subject to the same political authority and dominant cultural expectations. ...

. According to Yevgeni Preobrazhensky, a

Bolshevik The Bolsheviks, led by Vladimir Lenin, were a radical Faction (political), faction of the Marxist Russian Social Democratic Labour Party (RSDLP) which split with the Mensheviks at the 2nd Congress of the Russian Social Democratic Labour Party, ...

economist, control over the commanding heights of the economy would ensure primitive socialist accumulation. The phrase can be traced back to

Vladimir Lenin Vladimir Ilyich Ulyanov ( 187021 January 1924), better known as Vladimir Lenin, was a Russian revolutionary, politician and political theorist. He was the first head of government of Soviet Russia from 1917 until Death and state funeral of ...

's defense of the New Economic Policy (NEP), which saw market-oriented reforms while the state retained control of the commanding heights. Lenin used the military metaphor to justify NEP, proposing that free markets could be permitted so as long as the government retained control of certain commanding heights like heavy industry and

transport Transport (in British English) or transportation (in American English) is the intentional Motion, movement of humans, animals, and cargo, goods from one location to another. Mode of transport, Modes of transport include aviation, air, land tr ...

Specific national contexts

China

China retains state control over the commanding heights of the economy in key industries like infrastructure, telecommunications, and finance despite significant marketization of the economy since reform and opening up. Specific mechanisms implementing its control of the commanding heights in these areas include public property rights, pervasive administrative involvement, and Communist Party supervision of senior managers. Through

Jiang Zemin Jiang Zemin (17 August 1926 – 30 November 2022) was a Chinese politician who served as General Secretary of the Chinese Communist Party, general secretary of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) from 1989 to 2002, as Chairman of the Central Mil ...

's emphasis on grasping the large, letting go of the small, the China's central government focused on developing a core group of large state-owned enterprises (SOEs) in strategically important fields deemed as part of the commanding heights of the economy, while relinquishing control over smaller and unprofitable SOEs. For an example from socialism with Chinese characteristics, while the Chinese economic reform has generally shifted funding sources for

higher education Tertiary education (higher education, or post-secondary education) is the educational level following the completion of secondary education. The World Bank defines tertiary education as including universities, colleges, and vocational schools ...

from the government to individual students, the

Chinese Communist Party The Communist Party of China (CPC), also translated into English as Chinese Communist Party (CCP), is the founding and One-party state, sole ruling party of the People's Republic of China (PRC). Founded in 1921, the CCP emerged victorious in the ...

also organized projects like Project 985 and Project 211 to retain government funding and therefore influence over certain elite institutions.

India

The second of the

Five-Year Plans of India The Five-Year Plans of India were a series of national development programmes implemented by the Government of India from 1951 to 2017. Inspired by the Soviet model, these plans aimed to promote balanced economic growth, reduce poverty and ...

, overseen by Jawaharlal Nehru, was an attempt to industrialize India through state control of the commanding heights.

New commanding heights

The phrase "commanding heights" often occurs in modern political commentary outside of Marxist connotations.

Healthcare and education

In service economies, where the relative importance of industry has decreased, Arnold Kling posited in 2011 that healthcare and

education Education is the transmission of knowledge and skills and the development of character traits. Formal education occurs within a structured institutional framework, such as public schools, following a curriculum. Non-formal education als ...

are the new commanding heights. The two sectors are central to employment and consumption, and in the United States are driven primarily by government intervention. In the ten years preceding 2011, employment in education and healthcare in the United States increased by 16%, despite employment in other sectors decreasing.

Internet

Other commentators have identified digital platforms and the

internet The Internet (or internet) is the Global network, global system of interconnected computer networks that uses the Internet protocol suite (TCP/IP) to communicate between networks and devices. It is a internetworking, network of networks ...

as the new commanding heights of the economy.

References

Bibliography

* * * {{Marxist & Communist phraseology Communist terminology Socialism Political theories Political economy Marxism