Market Economy

Fundamentals of a Market Economy

• Private property: buyers and sellers are free own and use private property
• Specialization: buyers and sellers are able to concentrate their efforts in areas where they have an advantage
• Consumer sovereignty: buyers can exercise their dominance over what is produce by freely deciding whether to buy or not buy
• Competition: sellers are free to attempt to get the business of others by offering the best deal
• Profit: sellers are free to attempt to maximize their profits
• Voluntary exchange: when a buyer and seller agree to do business together business together, each believes that the benefits outweigh the costs
• Government involvement: buyers and sellers must be free to operate with minimal government intervention

What Legal Rights Are Built into the Free Enterprise System?

• Open opportunity: everyone should have the ability to enter and compete in any marketplace.
  • Open participation serves as an incentive to be efficient and productive
• Free contact: everyone should have the right to decide for themselves which legal economic agreements they want to enter into
  • Voluntary exchange, a cornerstone of free enterprise, can’t function without freedom of contract
• Legal equality: everyone should have the same economic rights under the law

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