Market Economy Overview

1. The Market Economy
   • What is a market economy?
     • Guided by the laws of supply and demand
     • Laissez-faire
   • Is a market economy the same as a capitalist system?
   • Alternatives to market economies
     • Planned economies (socialism or communism compared to capitalism)
     • Social market economies (between capitalism and socialism)

2. Government involvement
   • Market economics and government involvement in the United States (even the U.S. is not a perfectly free market)
     • Where the government gets involved in the United State and where it actually makes economic sense for the government to get involved (public goods and externalities)
   • Economies and government involvement around the world — compare United States to other countries (Heritage Foundation/Wall Street Journal Index of Economic Freedom)
   • The link between economic systems and political systems (e.g. there has never been a country with a democratic political system and a communist economic system)

3. Health care: is the government or the free market better at providing health care?
   • The economic argument
   • Complaints against the economic argument
   • Cases where government is relatively hands-off
   • Cases where government is hands-on

4. Social security: does it make sense for the government to provide social security?
   • The economic argument
   • Complaints against the economic argument
   • Cases where government is relatively hands-off
   • Cases where government is hands-on

5. Taxation: funding the provision of government services
   • The economic argument for keeping taxes low
   • Complaints against the economic argument
   • Cases where taxes are low
   • Cases where taxes are high

6. International trade
   • The economic argument for international trade
   • Complaints against the economic argument
   • Comparing trade policy within governments around the world

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