The Market Economy
THE MARKET ECONOMY: PROS AND CONS
Individu
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Individualism, property rights, rationality, selfishness, and economic competition have been identified as the key characteristics of the market economy concept. The general theme of the concept is that whatever individuals want to do in an economy should not be interfered with by government, so long as the rights of others are not harmed in the process. The market economy concept holds that economic welfare will be generated through the selfishness, or greediness, of the members of the economy. Selfishness, according to this line of thought, motivates individuals to promote their own economic wellbeing, and, in the process, create economic benefits for the society as a whole. The claim is that the greater economic efficiency provided by the market economy concept will increase output over that which would occur in a system where nonmarket institutions prevailed. Within such an environment where greed is the motivator, the market economy concept holds that economic injustice will be precluded by competition within the economy. Through such arguments as the "invisible hand," proponents of the market economy concept contend that application of the concept will provide a distribution of economic benefits almost equal in equity to that which would be provided under ideal conditions. Critics of the market economy concept contend that indivi dualism and selfishness are not necessarily attributes which are desirable in a society, even if they do contribu
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of business and industry in these contexts is intended to eliminate overt discrimination on the basis of sex, racial or ethnic background, religious preference, or age, and, in many instances, such regulation is also intended to rectify the effects of past discrimination based upon these same characteristics. In practice, the greatest emphasis is placed on discrimination which is based on either gender, or on racial or ethnic background.
While not supporting employment discrimination, advocates of an unrestricted free market economy reject the idea that society has any right to officially prohibit such discrimination. Rather, they believe that offenders will be persuaded 4by economic imperatives to mend their ways. In actual practice, however, discrimination in employment tends to increase at any time governmental monitoring and intervention decrease.
The market economic concept is well suited to the perceptions Americans hold about themselves. The concept has also proved to be efficient in many ways. Therefore, the concept should be used wherever in the American economy that it has proved to be effective, but nonmarket institutions should not be excluded from use in those instances where free market princ
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Some common words found in the essay are:
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Approximate Word count = 1567
Approximate Pages = 6 (250 words per page)
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