6 Jul 2021
Majority of young Britons want a socialist economic system
A majority of young Britons would like to live in a socialist economic system, new research shows.
Millennials reject capitalism and firmly blame housing climate change crises.
They feel that socialism, on the other hand, is a good idea that has simply been done badly in the past.
The survey of young people aged 16 to 34, carried out for the Institute of Economic Affairs, found that 67% would like to live in a socialist economic system.
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With the rise of mass movements such as Black Lives Matter, Extinction Rebellion, Greta Thunberg’s climate movement and even Corbynmania, the millennial generation is now seen as hyper-politicized, embracing an awakened culture and anti-capitalist ideas.
They associate socialism with positive terms such as “equal” and “just”. They do not associate it with a “failure” or link it to Venezuela where, under the socialist regime of Hugo Chavez, the country’s once flourishing economy fell into poverty.
They associate capitalism, on the other hand, with terms such as “exploiter”, “unjust”, “the rich” and “business”.
Dr Kristian Niemietz, author of the report, said “millennial socialism” was not just a passing fad and supporters of capitalism had to get better at defending it.
There has been a tendency to dismiss support for leftist ideas among young people as a passing phase, but with older Millennials turning 40, it can no longer be seen as something they will “grow up to”.
The research covers the bulk of the Millennial generation, those between the ages of 23 and 34, and about half of the Gen Z, those between the ages of 16 and 22. The research found little difference between the views of the two groups, what led her to conclude this seeing “is a glimpse of what will be mainstream opinion in Britain tomorrow”.
Three-quarters of poll respondents agreed with the claim that climate change was specifically a capitalist problem, while 78% blamed capitalism for Britain’s housing crisis.
They are in favor of nationalizing industries such as energy, water and railways and fear that private sector involvement could put the NHS at risk.
Seventy-five percent of those polled agreed that “socialism is a good idea, but it has failed in the past because it was done badly”.
Dr Niemietz said: “These results show that ‘millennial socialism’ is not just a hype on social media, and it was not a passing fad that ended with the resignation of Jeremy Corbyn.
“This is not just a repeat of the student radicalization of the 1960s, either. It is a long-term change in attitude, which will not go away on its own. “
21 Jul 2021
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What are the main differences between a mixed economic system and pure capitalism?
A mixed economic system is an economy that allows private property and allows businesses and consumers to freely use capital. However, in a mixed economy, governments can intervene through regulation of the economy if it is deemed to be in the best interests of all.
Mixed economic systems are not state economies, which means that the government does not own all the means of production. In contrast, pure capitalism is a free and private economic system that allows willing and competing individuals to plan, produce, and trade without coercive public interference.
Key points to remember
Understand the different economic systems
There are many political and moral connotations shrouded in the age-old and ongoing debate between statist thinkers and free market thinkers. On a simplistic level, the differences between types of economic systems are straightforward. Some systems place greater value on the rights of individual owners, while others place greater value on government oversight of production and distribution. In short, there are three main categories of economic systems: socialism, capitalism and mixed economies.
Socialism
A centrally planned economic system with some degree of state or social control over production is called socialism. In the extreme forms of this category, the government controls the production and prices of goods and services. In the most extreme forms of the socialist system, decisions about how to distribute goods and services are entirely made by the government.
In other words, under extreme socialism, people depend solely on the government for food, shelter, income, and health care. North Korea, a state-run dictatorship, is an extreme example of a fully socialist system.
Capitalism
Capitalism is an economic system in which private companies and individuals own goods and capital goods. The fundamental basis of capitalism is that the market (or the forces that influence the market) determines the prices and production in the economy.
In other words, the quantity produced as well as the prices of goods and services are determined mainly by the supply and demand of these goods and services. As a result, capitalism is often referred to as a market economy, which is in stark contrast to a government-planned economy or a managed economy.
Pure capitalism – an extreme form of capitalism – is also known as laissez-faire capitalism. In pure capitalism, private property rights and freedom of contract are the dominant frameworks for production and commerce. The laissez-faire economy evolves from a system of respected private property rights.
Pure capitalism means that the less government involvement in the economy, the better its citizens and businesses, as well as the economy as a whole. Leave-do is roughly translated from French as “let” or “leave alone”. In other words, there are no government controls, regulations, checks and balances. In this extreme form of capitalism, landowners, including owners of machinery, capital, and other input resources, can contract and trade with each other as they see fit, regardless of government needs.
Mixed economic system
A mixed economic system is an economy in which there is private ownership by companies and individuals (i.e. capitalism), but in which there is some degree of state involvement (i.e. that is, socialism). In a mixed economy, the state leaves varying degrees of freedom between producers and consumers.
A mixed economy also places varying limits on property rights. Owners are limited in how they trade with each other. These restrictions come in many forms, such as minimum wage laws, tariffs, quotas, exceptional taxes, license restrictions, prohibited products or contracts, direct public expropriation, antitrust legislation, legal tender, grants and eminent domain laws.
Almost every country in the world has a mixed economy, including the United States. Even relatively free market economies, like Hong Kong or Australia, are still mixed. In Western democratic republics, property rights can be violated if the plurality of elected representatives deem such violations to be in the best interest of the public.
In the United States, for example, private ownership of property and production exists and the economy generally operates like capitalism. However, the government has an implication, like tax breaks or subsidies for agriculture like us as regulating business and capital markets. The US government also owns aspects of the economy, such as the US Postal Service, as well as partial ownership in areas of national defense.
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