Research Paper
5th Hour
1/8/2010
What is the Best System: The Economic System Research Paper Our culture, ideas, and beliefs all come from economics. Many people don’t realize it, but the way our society functions depends solely on its economic system. One may ask, what is an economic system? And how could it possibly dictate most, if not all, aspects of life? Simply put, an economic system is the way in which society produces and distributes goods and services to consumers. In modern times, a nation’s economic system is determined and implemented by its federal government. Hundreds of theories about economics exist, but realistically when implemented they phase into one of two categories. An economic system can’t be right …show more content…
Hands-off systems generally allow the market to determine prices, production, and costs. Hands-off systems tend to be more efficient than hands on systems, however each system has its own flaws. Much like hands-on systems, hands-off systems have three subcategories: private, state, and communal. Hands-off private oriented systems involve no state or government intervention, it is the most basic system, however an actual private hands-off system has never been put to practice. Every aspect of the economy is left to the market, literally everything, which is not always a good thing. The advocates of this type of system believe no government is necessary and that the markets will take care of everything. Capitalism is the most common form of private oriented economics, however, society’s perception of Capitalism today is not what Capitalism was meant to be. State handsRochester Community Schools Page 2 1/8/10-off systems call for government intervention but still allow the market to determine prices and costs of goods and services. The government owns the factors of production such as land, labor, and capitol but all other economic factors such as price, distribution, and output are determined by the private sector. The third and final hands-off system is known as a communal oriented system. This system consists of decentralized co-ops that have a collective ownership on the means of production. That means, that the factors of production are owned publicly, however, the ownership of the factors is distributed equally among all regions of a certain nation. This system is the opposite of most other systems because the owner of the factors of production aren’t centralized; instead they are evenly dispersed. Usually operated at a federal level, the co-ops allow the market to determine prices, costs, production levels, and all other economic activity. This system is not very realistic because of the