Traditional market planning. Types of economic systems: market economy, traditional economy, command economy, mixed economy

Depending on the economic mechanism and social structure, types of economics are divided into the following:

  • traditional;
  • team;
  • market;
  • mixed.

These types of economic systems are associated with the allocation of funds and the presence of opportunity costs (lost income). They are used to form economic activities in society - a society of people coordinating their actions with each other according to developed rules.

Traditional type of economy

The traditional system is based on historical traditions, which are passed on from generation to generation. IN modern society it is used in countries with an underdeveloped economic structure, which is based on agriculture, handicrafts, and primitive forms of trade. The role of the state in economic relations is low. The regulator of economic relations is markets, where the priority is to extract one’s own benefit, rather than collective one. New technologies are slowly being introduced here due to people's reluctance to make changes to their daily lifestyle. The distribution of resources, labor for the production of goods and its products, is based on the customs of the community. For example, countries in Southeast Asia: Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Pakistan.

Character traits

The traditional system is stable. It has virtually no production costs, and workers are motivated to commercialize their skills, which has a positive impact on product quality. The system is characterized by:

  • the predominant use of manual labor;
  • use of natural energy sources;
  • building power on tribal relations;
  • small or no segment of the mining industry;
  • exploitation, restriction of the rights and freedoms of the lower stratum of society.

The system allows for free trade turnover, which allows for a decent standard of living.

Command type of economy

The command system provides for state ownership of resources, centralized planning, and minimal intensity of free market relations. The state decides everything - from the location of the enterprise to the channels for supplying raw materials and marketing the product. Authorities set profitability indicators to which wages, bonuses and penalties are tied. This system aims to:

  • suppression of personal freedoms of citizens;
  • management, through administrative orders and planning systems;
  • state form of ownership.

The command type of economy is currently used by Vietnam, Cuba, and North Korea.

Market type of economy

The market system is a guarantor of compliance with the terms of transactions and non-interference of third parties. It allows you to freely choose markets for goods and services. The entrepreneur independently chooses where to purchase raw materials, what product to produce, to whom to sell it, and how to use the income received. Main features:

  • private property;
  • the ability to choose forms of activity;
  • pricing based on supply and demand;
  • healthy competition;
  • limited role of government agencies.

This type of management in its pure form has no real examples. The existing market systems of developed countries are based on the dominance of large corporations. Prices are kept at a certain level and depend on the policies of the vendors, which allows us to deviate from the model of perfect competition.

Mixed economy

A mixed economy allows you to combine the capabilities of market and command systems. It involves combining the leadership role of the state and freedom of entrepreneurial activity. It is based on the following types of property:

  • private;
  • state;
  • municipal;
  • collective.

The state plays a regulatory role, applying fiscal, antimonopoly and other types of economic policies, and producers of products and services have the right to independently choose their field of activity. The mixed type of economy is used in the UK, Germany and Russia.

A command economy is a way of organizing the life of a country in which land, capital and almost all resources are state-owned. This system is well known to residents of the former Soviet Union. This is not surprising, because many of the states that were part of it have not been able to change it for several decades.

History of education

A command economy is a system that emerged as a result of a series of socialist revolutions, which took place under the Marxist ideological banner. Its final model in the modern sense was developed by communist leaders: first V.I. Lenin, and then I.V. Stalin. The fifties and eighties of the last century marked the period of greatest dawn of the socialist camp. At that time, more than thirty percent of the planet’s inhabitants lived in its constituent countries. In this regard, it is not surprising that, according to many scientists, the command economy is the largest economic experiment on Earth in human history. At the same time, many of the researchers forget that it began with the harsh suppression of the slightest civil liberties, and its implementation entailed enormous sacrifices.

Marxist theory

Based on the theory of Karl Marx, the only way to significantly increase the well-being and well-being of mankind is to eliminate the concept of private property, eliminate any manifestations of competition and carry out all state activities exclusively on the basis of a generally binding plan. However, it must be developed by the government based on scientific data. The roots of this theory can be found in the Middle Ages, in the works of the authors of so-called social utopias. At that time, these kinds of ideas failed, but at the beginning of the twentieth century, after the formation of the socialist camp, the government of the Soviet Union began to implement them in practice.

Signs

The main feature of a command economy is the shortage of some (or even many) goods. If they are on sale, then, regardless of the place of sale, as a rule, they do not differ from each other in quality. In this case, the government proceeds from the consideration that the buyer will still buy what is available. Thus, it is not surprising that there is no need to manufacture more expensive products and build similar stores on every street.

The next sign of a command economy is the absolute absence of an oversupply of manufactured goods under any conditions. The explanation for this is very simple and lies in the fact that the government of a state with such a system will under no circumstances allow the irrational use of its own resources.

It should also be noted that a country with such an economic system provides constant support to state-owned enterprises. It is expressed by clear planning of break-even sales markets, a loyal tax policy, as well as constant subsidies. Another essential feature of a command economy is the very appropriate use labor resources at the enterprises mentioned above. This fact can be explained by the fact that, due to the absence of excess production, the need to overwork personnel and assign overtime hours is leveled out.

Property in a command economy

For countries that have a command economic system, it is typical that all production organizations are in the hands of government bodies. At the same time, there are enterprises with municipal or national ownership. Cooperatives also have their place in the system. At the same time, the latter form of ownership does not apply to production companies that generate profit. It applies only to such economic entities that can provide individual benefits for citizens. This may include housing funds, preschool institutions, garages, and so on.

Flaws

Almost all the problems of a command economy stem from the fact that the highest authority of the country controls production. At the same time, all subjects of the state economy, in fact, are in equal conditions and rights. This leads to the fact that even the slightest inclinations of a competitive environment are reduced to zero. Based on the fact that this will not bring greater material results, the desire of entrepreneurs to improve the quality of their products is also leveled. Due to the fact that all goods produced in the country are more or less evenly distributed among all regions, the wages of the working class are in the maximum possible level of equality. Thus, there can be no question of the desire of enterprise personnel to improve the quality of their own work. The whole problem in this case comes down to the fact that no matter how hard a person works, he will not receive a salary that goes beyond the salary in one category or another.

Positive sides

Despite all the negative aspects of the system that were discussed earlier, there are also some advantages of a command economy. Its main “advantage” can be called the absence of the need for financial and labor costs to promote products on the market. Based on the fact that the government is a monopolist in the commercial market, there is no competition. In other words, the goods will be sold in any case, since there is a state quota.

Another great advantage of the planned-command economic system is the absence of class divisions within society. Due to relatively equal wages, in any state where it prevails, there are no very rich citizens and poor people. It would also be correct to note that many problems characteristic of a market economy can be easily solved using the planned-command method.

Population life

The command economic system has nothing to do with basic human needs. The circulation of products in society is quite simple. The decision on the production of goods and their sectoral distribution is made only by the government. Products are distributed across all regions of the country based on the idea that the population of each of them evenly consumes not only essential goods (including food and medicine), but also clothing and household appliances in full accordance with the volumes produced. As practice shows, this kind of approach cannot be called correct, because those goods that are not at all in demand in one area may be vital in a neighboring region. Even such features of a command economy did not prevent it from thriving very successfully even in many strong states. As for the welfare of citizens, the salary of each working person is proportional to the volume of his work. At the same time, the average salary in such countries is quite low.

Examples of command economy countries

The very first and most famous state in history to use a command economy is the Soviet Union, which switched to it back in 1917. The peak of development of such a system fell in the fifties of the last century. At that time, a terrible production crisis reigned on the planet. In this regard, the USSR, Cuba, China and other socialist countries have become striking examples of this method of organizing the economic life of the state. At present, it is difficult to judge and answer unequivocally how effective it was at that moment. On the one hand, the industry found itself in a catastrophically difficult situation, which could not be resolved through the ratio of supply and demand alone, and on the other hand, it was difficult to find a more rational way to overcome the current situation than government intervention.

Be that as it may, the best indicator of the quality of economic systems of that time is the rate of GDP growth in the first decades after the war. If we analyze them, we can see that the capitalist Western European states were many steps ahead of the countries of the socialist camp in this indicator. Over time, the gap in their level of development only increased.

Exit difficulties

The planned and command development of the Soviet Union, which lasted more than eighty years, led to the fact that the real level of the state at the beginning of the nineties of the last century was, to put it mildly, deplorable. This was reflected in the very low quality and uncompetitiveness of manufactured products, a decrease in the well-being and life expectancy of the population, the obsolescence of the manufacturing sector, as well as severe pollution environment. The main reason for all this was the features of the command economy, which were discussed in more detail earlier.

Be that as it may, the process of transition to a market economic system is not as simple and fast as it might seem at first glance. No state can become successful within a few years. In this regard, in theory there is a concept of the so-called transition economy. It is characterized by uncertainty, instability and changes in the entire economic structure of the state. Something similar can now be observed in some countries of the former socialist camp.

Conclusion

To summarize, a command economy is a way of organizing state life which is often called socialism. Within its framework, the government plays a monopolistic role in regulating the economic life of the country. It is the authorities who decide on the volume of production of a particular type of product, as well as its cost on the market. With all this, such data are established not on the basis of the real relationship between supply and demand, but solely on the basis of long-term statistical data, on the basis of which plans are established. Although such a model of state development has some advantages, as practice shows, in a market economy and competition, any country develops much more efficiently.

What is an economic system?
Economic system – 1) a way of organizing the economic activities of a society, in accordance with which the problem of distributing limited resources is solved;

2) an established and operating set of principles, rules, laws that determine the form and content of basic economic relations that arise in the process of production, distribution, exchange and consumption of an economic product;

3) organization of economic life.

Types of economic systems.
The type of economic system is characterized by: 1) forms of ownership; 2) ways of distributing limited resources; 3) ways of regulating the economy.

Classification No. 1: 1) traditional; 2) command (centralized); 3) market; 4) mixed.

1) Traditional economic system- a way of organizing economic life in which land and capital are in the common possession of the tribe, and limited resources are distributed in accordance with long-standing traditions.
Questions about what goods and services to produce for whom and how are decided on the basis of traditions passed down from generation to generation.
Advantages: 1) stability of society; 2) sufficiently high quality of the goods produced.
Disadvantages: 1) lack of technical progress; 2) poor adaptability to changes in external conditions; 3) limited number of goods produced.

2) Command (centralized, directive, planned) economic system- a way of organizing economic life in which capital and land are owned by the state, and the distribution of limited resources is carried out according to the instructions of the central government and in accordance with plans.
Advantages: 1) the ability to concentrate all the forces and means of society to solve any problem (mobilization capabilities); 2) guarantees people the necessary minimum of life’s goods, providing confidence in the future; 3) avoids unemployment, although universal employment is achieved, as a rule, by artificially restraining the growth of labor productivity.
Disadvantages: 1) the inability to accurately plan all the needs of society and distribute resources accordingly, which leads to overproduction of some goods and shortages of others; 2) lack of incentive to produce quality goods; 3) lack of economic freedom among citizens.

3) Market economic system- a way of organizing economic life in which capital and land are owned by individuals and scarce resources are distributed through markets.
A market economy is an economy in which private ownership predominates, economic activity is carried out by economic entities at their own expense, and all major decisions are made by them at their own peril and risk.
Fundamentals of a market system: 1) private property rights; 2) economic freedom; 3) competition.
Private property is the socially recognized right of individual citizens and their associations to own, use and dispose of a certain volume (part) of any type of economic resources.
Advantages: 1) flexibility, ability to adapt to changing conditions; 2) the presence of incentives for technical progress; 3) rational (???) use of resources.
Disadvantages: 1) inability to ensure income equality and a consistently high standard of living; 2) weak interest in fundamental scientific research; 3) instability of development (crises, inflation); 4) ineffective use of irreplaceable resources; 5) lack of full employment and price stability.

Each economic system answers three questions differently: 1) what to produce?; 2) how to produce?; 3) for whom to produce?

What to produce? 1) traditional: products of agriculture, hunting, fishing, few products and services are produced, and what to produce is determined by customs and traditions; 2) centralized: determined by groups of professionals: engineers, economists, industry representatives - “planners”; 3) market: determined by consumers themselves, producers produce what can be purchased.

How to produce? 1) traditional: they produce in the same way and with what their ancestors produced; 2) centralized: determined by the plan; 3) market: determined by the producers themselves.

For whom to produce? 1) traditional: most people exist on the brink of survival, the additional product goes to the leaders or land owners, the rest is distributed according to customs; 2) centralized: “planners,” directed by political leaders, determine who and how much will receive goods and services; 3) market: consumers get as much as they want, producers make a profit.

4) In many countries there is mixed economy, which combines the features of market and command economic systems, economic freedom of producers and the regulatory role of the state.
A mixed economy is a way of organizing economic life in which land and capital are privately owned, and the distribution of limited resources is carried out both by markets and with significant government participation.

Classification No. 2: 1) market; 2) non-market (traditional and centralized); 3) mixed.

Classification No. 3: 1) commodity economy (centralized system, market system, mixed system); 2) subsistence farming.

Natural economy– 1) an economy in which people produce products only to satisfy their own needs, without resorting to exchange, to the market; 2) a farm that satisfies its needs through its own production.
Commodity farming– 1) an economy in which products are produced for sale, and the connection between producers and consumers is carried out through the market; 2) an economy in which production is market-oriented.

The term "property" used in three meanings:
1. As a synonym for the word “thing” (ordinary, everyday meaning).
2. Legal ownership includes three powers (powers) that only the owner can have: 1) possession (actual possession of this property, legally secured); 2) use (process of extraction beneficial properties from this property); 3) disposal (determining the future fate of this property = sale, donation, exchange, inheritance, rental or pledge, etc.).

Rent (from Latin arrendare - to give for rent) - 1) provision of property (land) by its owner for temporary use to other persons on contractual terms, for a fee; 2) the right to use without having the right to dispose.

Trust (from the English trust - trust) - 1) the right of the owner to transfer the right to manage his property to another person, without the right to interfere in his actions; 2) the institution of trust property, associated with the transfer of property and their property rights by the trust founder (beneficiary) for a certain period of time to the trustee.

Property as an economic category – 1) relations between people in the process of production, distribution, exchange and consumption regarding the appropriation of production resources, factors of production of material goods; 2) the ownership of things, material and spiritual values ​​by certain persons, the legal right to such ownership and economic relations between people regarding the ownership, division, redistribution of property objects.

Subjects of ownership: 1 person; 2) family; 3) labor collective; 4) social group; 5) population of the territory; 6) governing bodies of all levels; 7) the people of the country.

Properties: factors of production and finished products: 1) land, land plots, land; 2) money, currency, securities; 3) material and property values; 4) natural resources; 5) jewelry; 6) buildings for social and cultural purposes; 7) fixed production assets; 8) labor force; 9) spiritual, intellectual and information resources.

Functional characteristics of the property: 1) ownership, 2) management, 3) control.

Which of these characteristics is the most important?
1. Karl Marx put ownership first.
2. In the 20th century. Property management is becoming increasingly important.

Technocracy (Greek ?????, “skill” + Greek ??????, “power”) is a socio-political system in which society is regulated by competent scientists and engineers based on the principles of scientific and technical rationality.
Technocratic ideas were expressed by A. A. Bogdanov, who coined the term “technical intelligentsia” (in 1909 in the article “Philosophy of a Modern Naturalist”), while the term “technocracy” itself is an Americanism that appeared in the 1920s. Initially, the idea of ​​technocracy as the power of engineers was described by Thorstein Veblen, in the social utopia “Engineers and the Price System” (1921). Veblen's ideas were developed by James Burnham in The Managerial Revolution (1941) and John Kenneth Galbraith in The New Industrial Society (1967).
Thanks to the scientific and technological revolution, knowledge becomes the basis of power, subjugating both strength and wealth. The very face of power is also changing - abandoning direct and brutal domination, it takes on softer forms of influence and domination. Now the level of knowledge, and not the presence or absence of private property, becomes the main source of social differences. Power in the information age passes from those who give orders to those who shape the consciousness of people, laying into it certain stereotypes, images, and patterns of behavior.
Meaning creators are the creative layer of the information society, the “creative class”, which forms behavioral stereotypes, patterns of perception and action of means mass media and through them influencing the worldview and behavior of broad layers of citizens. Real power is increasingly moving into the shadows, to various non-governmental influence groups, often international or simply foreign. The official government only formalizes and implements the policies developed in these circles. Hard power, based on violence, has given way to “soft power”, based on persuasion of people, ideological work, and subtle manipulation of public consciousness.
“Soft power” is a new historical type of power, based not on direct violence or economic enslavement, but on persuasion and information manipulation. “Soft power” is turning into the main instrument of power in the information age, when previous methods of domination lose their effectiveness and the need arises for the hidden and unobtrusive subordination of people to the interests of others.
The material basis of “soft power” is formed by the triumvirate “1) meaning creators – 2) non-governmental organizations – 3) the media.”

How are the different types of property different?
Those who own the means of production, how and by whom the income from the use of property is distributed, who is a participant in economic activity.
Classification No. 1: 1) general (primitive communal, family, state, collective); 2) private (labor = family, farm, individual labor activity; non-labor = slave-owning, feudal, bourgeois-individual); 3) mixed (joint stock, cooperative, joint).
1) Historically, the first type of property was common property, in which all people were united into groups and all means of production and produced goods belonged to all members of society.
2) The second in time of origin was private property, in which individual people treated the means of production as belonging personally only to them. Private property is a form of legal assignment to a person of the rights to own, use and dispose of any property, which he can use not only to satisfy personal needs, but also to conduct commercial activities. Private property was dominant in the economy until the 20th century. Opponents of private property pointed out that it is a source of exploitation of man by man, contributes to the separation of people, develops in them such qualities as selfishness, individualism and greed, and creates inequality between people. Proponents of private property argued that the feeling of private property is a natural feeling of a person that expresses his nature. In their opinion, it is private property that gives an individual the opportunity not to depend on the state, being a guarantee of human rights.
3) In the 19th century. The main figure of the owner was the capitalist - the entrepreneur. In the 20th century received development different kinds mixed (collective-private, group, corporate) property, which combines the characteristics of the first two types. A typical form of such ownership is Joint-Stock Company(corporation).
A corporation (Latin corporatio - association, community) is a form of organization of an enterprise where the right to property is divided into parts by shares, and therefore the owners of corporations are called shareholders.
Unlike a sole proprietor and partnership members, the most a shareholder can lose is the amount they paid for the shares. Shareholders can move in and out of the corporation simply by purchasing shares. The capital of such a company is formed as a result of the sale of securities - shares, which are evidence that their owner has made a contribution - a share - to the capital of the corporation and has the right to receive a dividend. Dividend is part of the profit that is paid to the owner of shares (usually in proportion to the size of the share contributed by him).

Classification No. 2: 1) private (personal, individual); 2) state; 3) collective, joint.
Individual private property is widespread (agriculture, crafts, trade, services).
Signs of an individual private enterprise: 1) ownership of the means of production used; 2) the use of personal labor of the manufacturer, his family, and hired workers; 3) the right to individually dispose of income from economic activities; 4) the right to economic independence in resolving economic issues.
In the economy of the late 20th century. the importance of state ownership is high (from 15 to 20%). Typically, the state concentrates in its hands enterprises and industries of strategic importance ( railways, communications enterprises, nuclear and hydroelectric power plants).
Such forms of ownership as cooperative and collective ownership have also been preserved. With cooperative ownership, a group of people who have come together to jointly use some property (own or rented) manages this property. In a collective enterprise, the owner is the team of this enterprise, which takes part in managing the production process.
Municipal uniform ownership is a form of ownership in which property is at the disposal and control of local authorities.

Forms of ownership in Russia.
According to the Constitution of the Russian Federation, in Russia 1) private, 2) state, 3) municipal and other forms of property are recognized and protected equally. The list of forms of ownership specified in the Constitution and the Civil Code (Civil Code) of the Russian Federation is not exhaustive, since it is accompanied by a reservation, by virtue of which Russian Federation Other forms of ownership are also recognized.

Privatization(Latin privatus – private) – 1) transfer of state property to individual citizens or legal entities created by them; 2) the process of denationalization of ownership of the means of production, property, housing, land, and natural resources. It is carried out through the sale or gratuitous transfer of state and municipal property into the hands of collectives and individuals with the formation on this basis of corporate, joint-stock, and private property.
Nationalization(Latin natio – people) – transfer of private property into the hands of the state.

Market and capitalism.
Version No. 1. Capitalism = market system.
Capitalism is a type of society based on private property and a market economy.
In various currents of social thought it is defined as a system of free enterprise, a stage of development of industrial society, and the modern stage of capitalism is defined as a “mixed economy”, “ post-industrial society", "information society", etc.; in Marxism, capitalism is a socio-economic formation based on private ownership of the means of production and exploitation of wage labor by capital.

Version No. 2. Capitalism? market system.
Capitalism is not just a method of efficient economic activity that naturally arises in the bosom of a market economy. Capitalism is an intellectual, psychological and social breakthrough that is inaccessible to a pagan, a person of traditional culture.
What distinguishes capitalism from the market is not so much the subject of activity as its method, scale, and goals. Fernand Braudel, describing this complex phenomenon, called it “anti-market”, since clearly different activities are carried out here, unequal exchanges, in which competition, which is the basic law of the so-called market economy, does not occupy its due place.
Fernand Braudel (1902 - 1985) - an outstanding French historian. Laid the foundations of the world-systems approach.
Braudel's most famous work is considered to be his three-volume work “Material Civilization, Economics and Capitalism, XV-XVIII Centuries.” (1979). This book shows how the economies of European (and other) countries functioned in the pre-industrial period. The development of trade and money turnover, much attention is also paid to the influence of the geographical environment on social processes.
Arnold Toynbee:
“I believe that in all countries where maximum private profit acts as the motive of production, the private enterprise (market) system ceases to function.”

What is capitalism?
Capitalism is a holistic ideology, plan and scenario of a specific world order, the essence of which is not production or trade operations itself, but systemic operations aimed at controlling the market and aiming at extracting systemic profit (sustainable super-profit).
A rough, not very accurate and certainly unsightly analogue can be certain features of the activities of the mafia, moreover, in the “classical” sense of the concept, i.e. not as a crime, but as a specific system of governing the world, controlling it, and collecting tribute.
Capitalism acquires universal power not through administrative, national structures, but mainly through international economic mechanisms. Such power by its nature is not limited to state borders and extends far beyond its borders.
George Soros. The crisis of world capitalism. Open Society in Danger:
“The analogy with empire is justified in this case, because the system of global capitalism controls those who belong to it, and it is not easy to escape from it. Moreover, it has a center and a periphery like a real empire, and the center benefits at the expense of the periphery. More importantly, the system of world capitalism exhibits imperialist tendencies... It cannot be at peace as long as there are any markets or resources that are not already drawn into its orbit. In this respect, it is not much different from the empire of Alexander the Great or Attila the Hun, and its expansionist tendencies may be the beginning of its demise.”
The breeding ground of capitalism, its magnetic field, lines of force historically develop in the nervous plexus of financial schemes and the trophy economy of the crusades, mainly in the coastal areas of Europe (with the exception of the “land port” of fairs in Champagne). His ancestral nests are, first of all, the city-states and regions of Italy: Venice, Genoa, Florence, Lombardy, Tuscany, as well as the North Sea coast: the cities of the Hanseatic League, Antwerp, and later Amsterdam.
The spiritual source of capitalism, apparently, became heresies of different confessions, but quite united in their core - and free from the specific restrictions imposed by the Christian worldview and culture. During this period, sects and heresies were actively spreading in Europe: the baton was passed from the Paulicians and Bogomils to the Patarens and Albigensians. These are also Templars who were actively involved in financial activities, the very system of organization of which is an impressive prototype of future TNBs and TNCs.
The Waldenses played a special role in the emergence of capitalism. During the years of persecution that followed the Albigensian wars, the Waldenses were divided, and the radical part, who refused to repent, moved to German-speaking countries, to the Netherlands, Bohemia, Piedmont, to the Western and Southern Alps, where, according to some information, communities that had left state Christianity back in the 4th century. There, in hard-to-reach areas, places of exile, a kind of “European Siberia”, in the harsh conditions of the struggle for survival, the spirit of Protestantism is formed, marked by a special attitude to work, personal asceticism, enthusiasm, self-denial, honesty, scrupulousness, and corporatism.
Former Waldensians are actively introducing themselves into wholesale and retail trade, which allows them to move freely and establish multiple connections. Contact with the Waldensians is attributed to almost all significant figures of pre-Reformation Protestantism: from John Wycliffe to Jan Hus. Expelled from the legal world, forced to live in masks and communicate indirectly, the sectarians discovered that precisely as a result of these circumstances they had serious competitive advantages and were excellently prepared for systemic operations. In other words, they own the mechanism for the successful implementation of collusion and control over the situation, for the development and implementation of complex, highly complex projects, the implementation of large (often collective) capital investments, the informal conclusion of trust agreements that require long-term circulation of funds and active co-presence in different parts of the world.
On this basis in Western Europe A new type of worldview is spreading, which is characterized by active fatalism, viewing earthly wealth as visible evidence of a calling, and success as a sign of charisma. In medieval Europe, a completely different logic dominated: while labor was compulsory, the opposition of the necessary - necessitas - to the excess - superbia - was emphasized with a corresponding moral assessment, that is, the desire for profit was assessed as a shame and even the very activity of a professional trader as hardly pleasing to God.


An economic system is a set of interrelated elements that form an overall economic structure. It is customary to distinguish 4 types of economic structures: traditional economy, command economy, market economy and mixed economy.

Traditional economics

Traditional economics based on natural production. As a rule, it has a strong agricultural bias. The traditional economy is characterized by clanism, legalized division into classes, castes, and closeness from the outside world. In a traditional economy, traditions and unspoken laws are strong. Personal development in the traditional economy is severely limited and the transition from one social group to another, higher in the social pyramid, is practically impossible. Traditional economics often uses exchange in kind instead of money.

The development of technology in such a society occurs very slowly. Now there are practically no countries left that could be classified as countries with traditional economies. Although in some countries it is possible to identify isolated communities leading a traditional way of life, for example, tribes in Africa, leading a way of life that differs little from what their distant ancestors led. However, in any modern society, remnants of the traditions of their ancestors are still preserved. For example, this may apply to the celebration of religious holidays such as Christmas. In addition, there is still a division of professions into male and female. All these customs in one way or another affect the economy: remember Christmas sales and the resulting sharp increase in demand.

Command economy

Command economy. A command or planned economy is characterized by the fact that it centrally decides what, how, for whom and when to produce. The demand for goods and services is established based on statistical data and plans of the country's leadership. A command economy is characterized by high concentration of production and monopolism. Private ownership of factors of production is practically excluded or there are significant obstacles to the development of private business.

A crisis of overproduction in a planned economy is unlikely. Shortages of quality goods and services are becoming more likely. Indeed, why build two stores next to each other when you can get by with one, or why develop more advanced equipment when you can produce low-quality equipment - there is still no alternative. Among the positive aspects of a planned economy, it is worth highlighting the saving of resources, especially human resources. In addition, a planned economy is characterized by a quick reaction to unexpected threats - both economic and military (remember how quickly Soviet Union was able to quickly evacuate his factories to the east of the country; this is unlikely to be repeated in a market economy).

Market economy

Market economy. A market economic system, in contrast to a command one, is based on the predominance of private property and free pricing based on supply and demand. The state does not play a significant role in the economy; its role is limited to regulating the situation in the economy through laws. The state only makes sure that these laws are observed, and any distortions in the economy are quickly corrected by the “invisible hand of the market.”

For a long time, economists believed that government intervention in the economy was harmful and argued that the market could regulate itself without external intervention. however, the Great Depression refuted this claim. The fact is that it would be possible to get out of the crisis only if there was a demand for goods and services. And since no group of economic entities could generate this demand, demand could only arise from the state. That is why, during crises, states begin to rearm their armies - thereby they create primary demand, which revives the entire economy and allows it to break out of the vicious circle.

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Mixed economy

Mixed economy. Now there are practically no countries left with only a market, command, or traditional economy. Any modern economy has elements of both a market and a planned economy and, of course, in every country there are remnants of a traditional economy.

The most important industries contain elements of a planned economy, for example, the production of nuclear weapons - who would trust a private company to produce such a terrible weapon? The consumer sector is almost entirely owned by private companies, because they are better able to determine the demand for their products, as well as see new trends in time. But some goods can only be produced in a traditional economy - folk costumes, some food products, etc., therefore, elements of the traditional economy are preserved.

The economic system represents a special mechanism created to solve the two-sided problems of rarity and release. Since economic resources are limited compared to society's needs for goods and services, certain ways of allocating them between alternative uses are necessary.

Economic system- an ordered set of socio-economic and organizational relations between producers and consumers of goods and services.

The identification of economic systems may be based on various criteria:

The economic state of society at a certain stage of development (Russia during the era of Peter I, Nazi Germany);

- stages of socio-economic development (socio-economic formations in Marxism);

- economic systems characterized by three groups of elements: spirit (the main motives of economic activity), structure and substance in the German historical school;

Types of organization associated with ways of coordinating the actions of economic entities in ordoliberalism;

A socio-economic system based on two characteristics: the form of ownership of economic resources and the method of coordinating economic activities.

In modern scientific and educational literature The classification according to the last of the identified criteria is most widespread. Based on this, traditional, command, market and mixed economies are distinguished.

Traditional economics based on the dominance of traditions and customs in economic activity. Technical, scientific and social development in such countries is very limited, because it comes into conflict with the economic structure, religious and cultural values. This model of the economy was characteristic of ancient and medieval society, but persists in modern underdeveloped states.

Command economy due to the fact that most enterprises are state owned. They carry out their activities on the basis of state directives; all decisions on the production, distribution, exchange and consumption of material goods and services in society are made by the state.

This includes the USSR, Albania, etc. Market economy

determined by private ownership of resources, the use of a system of markets and prices to coordinate and manage economic activity. In a free market economy, the state does not play any role in the distribution of resources; all decisions are made by market entities independently, at their own peril and risk. Hong Kong was usually included here. In today's real life

There are no examples of a purely command or purely market economy, completely free from the state. Most countries strive to organically and flexibly combine market efficiency with government regulation of the economy. Such an association forms a mixed economy. represents an economic system where both the state and the private sector play an important role in the production, distribution, exchange and consumption of all resources and material goods in the country. At the same time, the regulatory role of the market is complemented by the mechanism of state regulation, and private property coexists with public-state property. The mixed economy arose in the interwar period and to this day represents the most effective form of management. There are five main problems solved by a mixed economy:

q provision of employment;

q full use of production capacity;

q price stabilization;

q parallel growth wages and labor productivity;

q balance of payments equilibrium.

Their achievement was carried out by states in different periods in different ways, taking into account mutual experience. Conventionally, three models of a mixed economy can be distinguished.

Neostatist(France, England, Italy, Japan) is characterized by a developed nationalized sector, active countercyclical and structural policies carried out in accordance with indicative plans, and a developed system of transfer payments.

Neoliberal model(Germany, USA) also involves counter-cyclical measures, but the main emphasis is on the state providing conditions for the normal functioning of the market. It is considered as the most effective regulatory system. The government essentially intervenes only to protect competition.

At the core models of concerted action(Sweden, Holland, Austria, Belgium) is based on the principle of consent of representatives of social parties (government, trade unions, employers). Through special taxes on investments, the government prevents the “overheating” of the economy and regulates the labor market. Special laws affect the relationship between wage growth and labor productivity, and progressive taxation helps equalize income. In the countries of this model, a powerful social security system has been created and an active structural policy is being pursued.

Currently, Russia has an eclectic economic system consisting of elements of an administrative-command system, a market economy of free competition and a modern market system. In the former Soviet Asian republics, elements of the traditional system are also added to this conglomerate. Therefore, to name the property relations existing in our country and organizational forms economic system (even an eclectic one) can be quite conditional. Absent important feature system - its relative stability. After all, in domestic economic life everything is in motion and has a transitional character. This transition, apparently, stretches over decades, and from this point of view, a transition economy can also be called a system.

Transition economy- an economy that is in a state of change, transition from one state to another, both within one type of economy and from one type of economy to another, occupies a special place in the development of society.

It should be distinguished from a transition economy transition period in the development of society, during which there is a change from one type of economic relations to another.

For the transition economies of the countries of the former “socialist camp” today there is a wide range of prospects: from degradation to a dependent, increasingly lagging economic system of developing countries to transformation into new industrial states; from economies like the Chinese that retain “socialist” attributes and are based on public property to right-wing liberal systems based on private property that began with the implementation of the principles of “shock therapy.” At the same time, three fundamental trends intersect in the transition economy of each country. The first of them is the gradual dying (both natural and artificial) of “mutant socialism”, which received its name in comparison not with a theoretical ideal, but with a real trend of socialization existing in world practice.

To summarize, we note that economic systems are multidimensional. They can be formalized: ES = f (A 1, A 2, A 3 ... An). In other words, the economic system (ES) is determined by its properties (A), where there are n such properties. This means that an economic system cannot be defined in terms of a single characteristic.