Introduction to Economics

Karl Marx

Communism: this was ________ and Friedrich Engels version of socialism which postulated that the workers (proletariat) would have to violently overthrow the bourgeosie /capitalist class to wrest control of the government and implement socialist policies; after a time, this centralized control would wither away and the communally owned, collective, cooperative reality would emerge with no need for centralized state control.

Equity

________: the quality of being fair and just in the distribution of goods & services in a society.

Higher taxation

________ is often the result- but the larger goal is to get rid of corporate manipulated governing systems and structures that tend to benefit the wealthy.

Socialism

________ and communism are reactions (also created by Western Europeans) to the extremes of capitalism- these 3 systems are the main ones utilized by the worlds nation states today.

Consumers

________ are free to spend their money as they wish, to enter into business, or to sell their labor to whomever they want.

Central governments

________ regulate, tax, and monitor the systems to find solutions to urban poverty & famine, and raise standards of living in rural areas.

Capitalism

________ emerges as a type of complex market economic system of a particular civilization.

Efficiency

________: producing in such a way as to ensure all 4 scarce resources in a society are being used to maximum potential, without waste, and without allowing for idle resources.

Traditional economies

________: tended to be subsistence economies.

Market economies

________: based on individual choice, not government directives; consumers and producers drive the economy.

Economic Growth

________: needs to occur no matter what if population grows and wants to maintain a certain standard of living.

Economic Security

________: having confidence in ones ability to support themselves and their families to survive.

Economic Freedom

________: giving people the ability to make economic decisions for oneself about what goods and services to produce and consume, type of work, type of business to open, where to live, what prices to charge.

Traditional economies

tended to be subsistence economies

**Complex Economic Systems

Command economies vs. Market economies-**as civilizations grew, so did the degree of control vs. degree of freedom individuals had to specialize in jobs, trade, buy/sell varied depending on the political system; most systems had elements of both since our first civilizations, but tended toward one extreme or the other

Command economies

the government decides what goods and services will be produced, how they will be produced, and how they will be distributed

Market economies

based on individual choice, not government directives; consumers and producers drive the economy

Socialism and communism are reactions (also created by Western Europeans)  to the extremes of capitalism

these 3 systems are the main ones utilized by the worlds nation states today

Reality of capitalisms dominance reflects global history

New Imperialism, Russian Revolution, Chinese Revolution,  Cold War,  fall of Communism at end of Cold War, &  increasing globalization

Socialism

any of the variety of ideologies proposed in the mid 1800s by reformers who varied from wanting more control/ownership of the means of production by government, to those who advocated "utopian socialism"…where business owners would willingly run their businesses ethically, paying fair wages, treating workers well, and thus creating self generating local communities, to those who believed all means of production should be commonly owned and managed by the people

Communism

this was Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels version of socialism which postulated that the workers (proletariat) would have to violently overthrow the bourgeosie/capitalist class to wrest control of the government and implement socialist policies; after a time, this centralized control would wither away and the communally owned, collective, cooperative reality would emerge with no need for centralized state control

Democratic Socialism

this arose in the 20th century and is the more common view of socialism as it is practiced today; it reflects more of a mixed economy with the centrally democratically elected government running and owning certain industries, but a lot of free market mechanisms are also allowed

Mixed economies-Mixed economies can have elements of all

  a market economy with significant government involvement (element of command) as well as traditional economies

Often there is pressure for those living in traditional economies to "develop"

meaning migrate to cities, live more in capitalistic/industrialized systems

Economic Growth

needs to occur no matter what if population grows and wants to maintain a certain standard of living

Efficiency

producing in such a way as to ensure all 4 scarce resources in a society are being used to maximum potential, without waste, and without allowing for idle resources

Equity

the quality of being fair and just in the distribution of goods & services in a society

Economic Security

having confidence in ones ability to support themselves and their families to survive

Economic Freedom

giving people the ability to make economic decisions for oneself about what goods and services to produce and consume, type of work, type of business to open, where to live, what prices to charge