Capitalism vs Socialism

The main difference between capitalism and socialism is the extent of government intervention in the economy. A capitalist economic system is characterised by private ownership of assets and business. A capitalist economy relies on free-markets to determine, price, incomes, wealth and distribution of goods. A socialist economic system is characterised by greater government intervention to re-allocate …

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Pros and cons of capitalism

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Capitalism is an economic system characterised by: Lack of government intervention Means of production owned by private firms. Goods and services distributed according to price mechanism (as opposed to government price controls) Capitalism – pros and consWatch this video on YouTube Pros of capitalism “A society that puts equality before freedom will get neither. A …

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Government debt under labour 1997-2010

Government debt under Labour was a major factor in the elections of 2010 and 2015. But to what extent did the Labour government really plunge the economy into debt during 1997-2007? Usually, when people say ‘it’s debt that got us into this mess’. They tend to view all types of debt as the same – …

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Maximum Working Week – Pros and Cons

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A maximum working week is a legal limit on the standard number of hours that can be worked in a week. For example, in 2000 France passed a maximum working week of 35 hours. Additional hours could be worked, but they had to be paid at an overtime rate of +25%. At the 2019 Labour …

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Tips and advice for evaluation in essays

Evaluation is an important component of an advanced essay. It requires the ability to look at facts, arguments and analysis, with a degree of critical distance. Evaluation involves: Looking at what other factors may affect the outcome. Time lags involved. How it might depend on other issues, e.g. elasticity of demand Why the original statement …

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Explaining Theories of Economic Growth

Different models of economic growth stress alternative causes of economic growth. The principal theories of economic growth include: Mercantilism – Wealth of a nation determined by the accumulation of gold and running trade surplus Classical theory – Adam Smith placed emphasis on the role of increasing returns to scale (economies of scale/specialisation) Neo-classical-theory – Growth …

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Investment and the Rate of Interest

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An explanation of how the rate of interest influences the level of investment in the economy. Typically, higher interest rates reduce investment, because higher rates increase the cost of borrowing and require investment to have a higher rate of return to be profitable. Private investment is an increase in the capital stock such as buying …

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What happens in a recession?

A recession is a period of negative economic growth. In a recession, we see falling real GDP, falling average incomes and rising unemployment. This graph shows US economic growth 2001-2016. The period 2008-09 shows the deep recession, where real GDP fell sharply. Other things we are likely to see in a recession 1. Unemployment The …

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