Title: (Optional) Identify the major economic systems.
Course: Entrepreneurship (12053-I) > Section: Understanding Basic Economic Principles

Identification should include

- market economy (e.g., free enterprise), in which private enterprise drives the economy, as found in societies with democratic forms of government with individuals controlling the economy
- command economy (e.g., communism, socialism), in which resources are owned and controlled by the government
- mixed economy, in which government-operated and/or government-regulated enterprises are combined with individually owned enterprises
- traditional economy (i.e., custom-based), in which goods are produced the way they have always been produced.

Process/Skill Questions:

- What contrasts exist between market and command economies?
- Why is an economy never purely traditional, purely market, or purely command?
- Why are most economies "mixed"?
- What role do profit motive and competition play in the free enterprise system? What is their effect on business?
- What economic freedoms does a U.S. citizen have?
- How does each economy answer the three basic economic questions?
- How might small business opportunities differ in each of the major economic systems?
- What type of economy exists in the United States?
- How might one's life be different under another type of economic system?
- How do small businesses contribute to the U.S. economy?