Types of Economic Systems

Standard 8:  Explain the concept of economy, delineating between micro and macroeconomic principles, and discuss how scarcity and factors of production require nations to make economic choices.  Compare and contrast how the various economic systems (traditional, market, command, mixed)  try to answer the questions:"What to produce? How to produce it? For whom to produce?"

Types of Economic Systems

Read pages 63-69 in textbook.

Nations must answer these three basic economic questions about how best to use limited economic resources to get the goods and services the country needs.
1.  What goods and services should be produced?
2.  How should the goods and services be produced?
3.  For whom should the goods and services be produced and distributed?

Based on how countries answer these questions, economists have classified economic systems into three broad categories.

Traditional Economies

What to produce?  little choice, what they need to survive using natural resources
How to produce?  usually use simple, handmade tools and their ingenuity, learned from ancestors
Produce for whom?  for themselves, any excess are traded among residents

Market Economies

Market economies are propelled by the rights of individuals and companies to produce and sell through competition without government involvement.

What to produce?  consumers decide by purchases
How to produce?  businesses decide by keeping costs low in hopes of producing high profits
For whom?  people with money

Command Economies

A country's government decides what, how, and for whom goods and services will be produced.

Student Activity

After reading pages 65-69, with a partner create a PowerPoint presentation (Google Presentation) over one of the Political and economic philosophies listed in the section:  capitalism, communism, socialism

Elements of the presentation:  (55 points total)

1. Define the philosophy in your own words. (5 points)
2. What type of economic system does this fall under? traditional, market, or command economy (5 points)
3. List 3 countries that fall in that category.
4. For each country, create a slide that shows where that country is located on a larger map and an additional slides for the following questions (15 points)
5. What are it's economic resources? (5 points)
6. What is it's political philosophy and how long has that country practiced this philosophy? (5 points)
7. Who is it's leader (name) and what is his/her title (include picture)? (15 points)
8. Oral presentation (5 points)

Different Philosophies

Did America start with a capitalist philosophy?  Forbes

What is socialism?  12:55-18:35

The popularity of socialism 37:47-52:20 - Marion Smith

France in Free Fall

Venezuela's Lesson for American Socialists

What is Great About America?

Now that you've had a look at the different political philosophies and how they impact our economy, write a 1 page essay (+ sources page) about what is great about America from an economic perspective.  Due at the end of class tomorrow.

Persuasive Essay - Convince Me!

Rubric:

50 points total

15 -Length; Intro, three points, closing

  5 -Grammar

  5 -Domain-specific language

15 -Three different reasons that make America great
  5 -Persuasiveness
  5 - Cite 3 sources