Left or Right Wing

Left wing or right wing? It is important to know because that decides how much government involvement there is in an economy. Two different ways are classic capitalism, a right wing economy which has less government involvement in people's lives and socialism, a left wing economy, which has more government involvement in people's lives. If these were blended together it would form a mixed economy. Either way there will be issues, such as a decrease in production, decrease in the standard of living, and a decrease in incentive. Those who believe classic capitalism a social system based on the principal of individual rights is the best way to run an economy, say it is because more competition, promotes a high quality of goods for low prices, also the economy is flexible and can respond quickly to changing consumer demand. Those who believe otherwise say classic capitalism may result in unemployment and the crash of the stock market. People that consider socialism, a social organization that is ran by the government is a better alternative say so as income and wealth are more evenly distributed, and consumers then receive the basic necessities of life. Those who oppose this say socialism results in lack of incentive and it is unfair that everyone earns the same wage no matter what job one carries out. A mixed economy is a blend of socialism and capitalism. It is a mixture of freedoms and regulations, constantly changing because of the lack of principles involved. It is the attempt to gain the advantages of freedom without government having to give up its power. The best position is one in favor of a mixed economy because it has a little bit of both, which then equalizes the economy.

Classic capitalism can lead to great instability in the market, and example would be the crash of the stock market. It started out in 1929, when people could buy stocks with the money they had, then they purchase them with cash down and the rest on credit. This however, didn't stay helpful in the long run. For example, let's say you want 100 shares of Red Wagon stock. The cost for 100 shares is say $15000, but when more and more people invest in this stock the price raises to say $20000. So people have to pay off what they owe on the stock by its increase in value. So as more money was being borrowed the flow of money began to increase, which is known as monetary policies. And since monetary policies were lacking, it lead to dept and excessive spending and then resulted in the crash and many people were in poverty.

Capitalism also can lead to poor working conditions, for example the Industrial revolution. The life for the average man was changed forever. No longer were things hand-made in shops - the process of production was entirely different. Instead of the old way of doing things, the machine increased productions hundredes of times. With factories and quick production, the average man was forced into a horrible dilemma. Those who still ran shops and built things hand-made quickly went bankrupt. Factories could sell more of their products for a cheaper price. The worker thus was forced into working, the only alternative being starvation and death of his family. Thus, the worker became dependent

upon his wage. It was the equivalent of food for him. With no other source of income, the worker was forced into the position where he was: unappreciated and overworked. The machinery in the mills was dangerous, resulting in the death and maiming of many of the workers. On top of these horrible conditions, the workers were paid pennies an hour. These conditions were created be the employer for the worker,