The main function of the economy can be called the systematic creation of goods necessary for human existence, which help society develop. In other words, the economy acts as a tool for satisfying human needs.

The first mentions of the term “economics” can be traced back to the works of Aristotle, who saw economics as opposed to chrematistics - the science of enrichment, the ability to accumulate property and wealth.

Forms of economy

• traditional;
• market;
• administrative-command;
• mixed.

Traditional economics was followed during pre-industrial society. Today, the traditional economy is characteristic only of the agricultural zones of the underdeveloped countries of Africa, South America and Asia.

A market economy is based on the principles of commodity production (free enterprise), that is, in this form of economy, the key factor in the distribution of goods is not the state, but buyers and suppliers (producers) of goods and services.

An administrative-command (planned) economy is characterized by centralized planning of financial activities. This form of economy was inherent in socialist countries; it existed, in particular, in the USSR, North Korea and Cuba, but today such an economic system has practically become obsolete. A mixed economy is a combination of private and public or state ownership of the means of production. This mixture is typical for advanced countries that preach democratic socialism.

A mixed economic system allows individual entrepreneurs to make their own decisions in financial matters, but the state (society) still has priority in these matters.

The economic sphere is a fundamental sphere in the life of society, since all processes occurring in this society depend on it.

It is difficult to underestimate the importance of economics in the life of society throughout human history. It is the economy that predetermines the material issue of human existence, providing him with everything necessary: ​​food, clothing, housing, etc. The economy is designed to satisfy the needs of not only individuals, but also entire organizations (enterprises), and society as a whole.

For a long time, states have been faced with the task of meeting the needs of their people, and to solve this problem it was necessary to develop the economic sphere. To achieve this, more and more natural resources and territories were involved in economic activity, which helped in one way or another to maintain economic stability.

However, technical and scientific progress did not stand still, and over time, such an economic strategy ceased to be effective; a certain ceiling was reached, limiting the possibilities for further development. Progress in the scientific and technological sphere gave impetus to the intensive development of the economic sphere. New, more progressive approaches to the use of resources have been developed, which has made their consumption much more rational and efficient. Modernization of the economic sphere has taught a person to achieve maximum results while spending as little as possible of his available resources.

It is worth noting that a developed economy has a positive effect on the spiritual component of society. Economic stability gives people the opportunity not only to accumulate, but also to spend money on spiritual benefits: entertainment, the development of their cultural values. Otherwise, people lose confidence in the future and begin to look for new ways to earn money, which almost always sooner or later leads to an increase in the crime rate.

Economy is an activity aimed at achieving necessary needs.

A Brief Introduction to Economics

Need- these are important and necessary conditions for ensuring a person and his full existence: food, medicine, entertainment, and so on.

Every person living on the planet, without even thinking, plays an economic role of varying importance and significance, which is part of the global economic process. Most ordinary people, who do not often deal with finances on a scale beyond family needs, cannot define the concept of economics, simplifying it to a primitive meaning about saving resources and funds.

To some extent, there is some truth in this interpretation, but it is not limited to such a narrow concept. The purpose of economics is much broader and includes the analysis of a huge number of areas of human activity., purchased or produced goods, and also calculates the relevance and scale of consumer needs. Economics includes both scientific research and the practical application of the analysis of entire groups of social activities aimed at obtaining material benefits.

The high economic position of the country is the basis for the stability and well-being of ordinary citizens. The connection between the standard of living of the population and the state of the general level of economic activity of the state are connected and depend on both resource management and the availability of natural and production values ​​(benefits).

Understanding the logic of the processes that the economy covers is incredibly important not only for those directly involved in their organization, but also for any member of society, the common man in the street. Economic literacy will allow you to understand both issues of a global nature, covering the state of the country and the causes of decline or growth, as well as understand more pressing and simple tasks.

Choose the right, in-demand direction for business development, or even a successful profession or activity in the future. Knowledge of the fundamentals and laws of economics will help ensure stability and prosperity in any business endeavor.

Presentation: economics in simple words

Economics concept

Most people figuratively understand what this concept is, but not everyone can explain it. Moreover, there is an opinion that this science is incredibly complex and difficult to interpret, which basically repels the ordinary person who does not have the appropriate education. But not everything is as complicated as it seems at first glance. Several directions dividing the subject cause confusion in interpretation.

Economy Alternative definition

is a social science that studies the needs of people. She analyzes how society uses and spends resources on its needs to ensure quality of life.

Economy as a factor of production Resources are generally limited and can be divided into three main categories, which are generally called –:

1. factors of production Earth.
2. This category includes useful natural resources such as lakes, meadows, arable land, minerals, and so on. Capital.
3. The category includes external investments, tools, mechanisms, buildings - everything that a person uses for production and uses in work. A broad and disparate category that determines usefulness and performance based on the skills, abilities, and preferences of ordinary people. Labor provides the necessary goods and services to improve life and meet human needs.

At least two more points can be added to the factors of production:

1. Information. Services in the field of dissemination and provision of important data for the conscious activities of people in the world of economics. The value of the resource is incredibly high and is gaining momentum every year.
2. Entrepreneurial skills. The difference from simple work is great and includes increased risks and the need to make decisions for the benefit of a large number of people. Not everyone has this resource, so its value stands apart from the main group.

How does the economy work using the example of a family?

The main criterion and primary goal of studying economics is a person, his behavior and needs. Let's imagine a unit of society - a family who runs her own separate household. An integral and important part for meeting the needs of a given family, that is, for example, purchasing food, medicine, and so on, is working for the benefit of the community of its members.

By providing labor resources and receiving money for them, the family decides how to use them, buy clothes, food, in other words, necessary values ​​that they cannot obtain on their own. Suppose in a given unit of society there are other available resources, for example, arable land or an enterprise. Additional income is spent in the same manner, distributed solely according to the individual's specific needs.

Moreover, all citizens of the country are co-owners of natural resources, which are managed on their behalf by the authorities. Thus, everything that a country produces or purchases from outside, uses, belongs to people, whose behavior and choices determine everything that happens in the country and how it develops.

Economics is aimed at studying the possible behavioral directions of an ordinary consumer in order to predict or calculate the rationality of the goods produced and provided. Science is incredibly important in production planning, useful for enterprises and firms, allowing the latter to make more correct and successful decisions in order to provide the population with truly necessary resources.

Basic principles of economics: specialization and exchange

By improving ways to properly and efficiently allocate resources, humanity, and therefore the economy, is built on two basic principles: specialization and exchange. What is specialization?

Specialization- this is the finding of a specific activity in the power of a certain individual or organization that is more successful than others.

Each individual person has his own talents and special skills, given by nature or education. The essence of society is that it can only survive by uniting together and distributing responsibilities so that each individual provides the best goods or services.

1. What is easy for one person causes difficulties for another and vice versa.
2. The more a person specializes in a specific task or skill, the better and higher quality his work.
3. The less he scatters knowledge, learning about other professions, concentrating on one, the more time and effort he saves.

The more time and skill, the higher the productivity, which means that the surplus generated during the growth process can be exchanged. That is why division of labor is a necessity

, and plays an important role, and the economy dictates the demand for types of employment in order to ensure the prosperity of society and cover all empty niches, providing the consumer with the necessary benefits.

Types of economics

For many centuries, mankind, through trial and error, has improved production skills, calculating and organizing a more profitable and rational way to satisfy consumer needs. In other words, it improved the organization of economic activities. Today the economy is divided into 3 main types:

Microeconomics

Tracks the behavior of individual owners of productive resources (enterprises, companies, households, etc.). Analyzes individual markets and products. It studies the behavior of individual subjects or organizations that make decisions about the distribution of resources, modeling the general perspective of the growth of human needs. Microeconomics is concerned with the efficiency of resource use.

Macroeconomics

Considers the overall focus of resources and the rationality of their use. Applicable on a larger scale, usually covering the state as a whole. Tries to figure out the causes and consequences of excess or undercapacity.

World economy

Studies issues aimed at the economic development of states. Explores the theory of markets and the patterns of interaction between states and international exchange.

The economy shapes the production and exchange of goods depending on the existing traditions of the state or community and built on the basis of collective ownership. Does not address development issues, such as the benefits or rationality of a method for increasing production. It is based on skills established over previous years that have become permanent and is found quite often, even in our time, although it is considered the most ancient of the existing options. Retains only residual controls and is recognized as an ineffective way of organizing.

Capitalist (market) economy

In highly developed countries, the main role is given to this type of organization of human cooperation. The market system has the main components: personal property rights, economic freedom and competition.

Personal property rights is the right of an individual recognized and protected by law to use and dispose of a specific type and volume of resources (land, enterprise, and so on). Having profit from productive resources, the individual manages finances at his own discretion and personifies economic freedom.

Free decisions are made by each entrepreneur at his own peril and risk, excluding the less fortunate, thereby forcing the supplier of goods or services to think through production based on the needs of the buyer. In order to receive a stable income, an entrepreneur must take into account the preferences and needs of the buyer, who, in turn, subject to market prices, pays the cost, choosing products based on personal considerations and requirements.

Team

This system completely excludes or limits the rights of a private owner. The right to dispose belongs exclusively to the state or completely excludes the ownership of production resources by private individuals.

Mixed

The combination of different systems is the basis of a mixed type of economy. This method of organization is practiced by all highly developed countries. Unlike other control systems, this one actually works and is the most popular and convenient in the world.

A mixed type of economy uses different forms of ownership. The allocation of resources is made by both markets and the state.

Market mechanisms, competition and the success of private owners of production resources lead to unlimited enrichment of some and decline of other segments of the population. Government intervention and management of certain types of resources help maintain balance and minimize the injustice generated by markets.

Tasks and goals of the economy

Depending on the situation, the goals and objectives of the economy may change, adapting to the current problems of the country. For example, an active fight against inflation leads to an increase in unemployment and so on. Often, many tasks go against each other, gradually solving goals at the expense of others. However, regardless of the situation, economics is designed to solve several important issues that are fundamental to any type of economic system.

• How many and what kind of goods should be produced?
• How should goods be produced and by whom?
• How and between whom should the resulting products be distributed?

In the process of application, mainly for the development of market economy, The economic system is faced with the following tasks:

• development,
• efficiency,
• full employment,
• rational distribution of income,
• social Security,
• welfare of the population,
• economic freedom for all existing agents.

In other words, the economy strives to make the most efficient use of all resources that we know are limited. This is why science is trying to integrate all aspects of production and consumption in order to achieve rational distribution and ensure the quality of life of mankind.

Objects and subjects of the economy

By acquiring useful resources from nature and through production, the economy evaluates and analyzes the shortcomings and excess of goods or services, distributes resources between subjects and objects of society. The relevance and clarity of the well-functioning mechanism of the economic process excludes such concepts as shortages or excess production, thereby ensuring harmony and balance between resource suppliers and consumers.

Economic objects

Economic objects include processes involved in organizing the system: production, sales, consumption. The entity develops and operates, producing products to ensure the smooth operation of facilities. On whose full employment depends everything economy and, as a consequence, the economic development of the country. The life and prosperity of an ordinary person depends on the high economic growth of the country, which is the true goal and task of the economy.

Most of the phenomena and situations in the country that require intervention or solution can also be attributed to the objects of the system: unemployment, stability of the national currency, price regulation, employment, investment.

Economic subjects

Economic entities include any organization or enterprise that produces goods or provides necessary services. This also includes: the state, family (household) and even an individual. In other words, subjects are both organizations and individuals, both resource providers and consumers. Everyone who can dispose of production capabilities at their own discretion and in fact are the owners of economic resources, as well as those who make decisions when choosing a specifically needed product.

conclusions

To summarize, we can conclude that, as society and humanity as a whole develop, they strive to improve the quality of life, avoid resource limitations and, if possible, provide themselves with economic benefits as much as possible. The economy is entrusted with covering all possible needs, ensuring a balance between consumption and production, and distribution between the population and organizations of limited natural resources (precious metals, minerals, and so on).

Economy

Introduction

An economic system is a set of interconnected and ordered elements of the economy.

Without the systemic nature of the economy, economic relations and institutions could not be reproduced (constantly renewed), economic patterns could not exist, a theoretical understanding of economic phenomena and processes could not have developed, and there could be no coordinated and effective economic policy.

Real practice constantly confirms the systemic nature of the economy. Objectively existing economic systems are scientifically reflected in theoretical (scientific) economic systems. The first detailed analysis of the economy as a system was given by the founder of the classical school of political economy A. Smith in his main scientific work “An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations” (in the accepted abbreviation “The Wealth of Nations”), published in 1776. From subsequent scientific economic systems, first of all, we should highlight the systems created by D. Ricardo (1817), F. List (1841), J. S. Mill (1848), K-Marx (1867), K Menger "(1871), A. Marshall (1890), J. Keynes (1936), P. Samuelson (1951).

Of the Russian economists of the past who emphasized a systematic view of the economy, it should be noted I.T. Pososhkov, A.I. Butovsky, N.G. Chernyshevsky, M.I. Tugan-Baranovsky, A.I. Chuprov, P.B. .Struve, V.I-Lenin, N.D.Kondratiev.

In the Soviet period of domestic economic science, the most notable were the theoretical systems reflected in the textbooks of political economy edited by K.V. Ostrovityanov, A.M. Rumyantsev, N.A. Tsagolov, N.P. Fedorenko, V.A. Medvedev, L.I. Abalkina and others.

as the history of economic science shows, the classification of economic systems can be made on the basis of various criteria (features).

This multiplicity is based on the objective diversity of properties of economic systems.

In enlarged form, the criteria of economic systems can be divided into three groups:

Structure-forming criteria;

socio-economic (substantive) criteria;

volumetric and dynamic criteria.

The acute financial and economic crisis that Russia is currently experiencing, which has forcedly suspended the course of further economic transformations, has made it not only desirable, but also necessary to critically evaluate the results of the economic reforms carried out in order to choose its future directions. Therefore, I consider the topic of the course work to be relevant.

History of economic systems

Modern courses in economic theory usually distinguish between market, command, and mixed economies. The best studied is the market economy, which is characterized as a system based on private property, freedom of choice and competition, based on personal interests, and limits the role of government. A command economy is described as a system dominated by public (state) ownership of the means of production, collective economic decision-making, and centralized management of the economy through state planning. A mixed economy means a type of society that synthesizes elements of the first two systems. It is typical for most modern states.

Historical classification should include, in addition to modern systems, the past and the future. In this regard, the classification proposed by representatives of the theory of post-industrial society, who distinguish pre-industrial, industrial and post-industrial economic systems, deserves attention.

The boundaries separating economic systems from each other are the industrial and scientific and technological revolutions. Within each of these systems, a more detailed typology is possible, which allows us to outline ways for synthesizing the formational and civilizational approaches.

1.1 Pre-industrial society.

In the pre-industrial era, subsistence agricultural production dominated. An individual could not exist without being, in one way or another, connected with the land, with the agricultural process. The earth was like the inorganic body of a working individual; there was a natural unity of labor with its natural prerequisites. Man was included in the biological cycles of nature, was forced to adapt to them, to measure his actions with the biological rhythm of agricultural production.

The place of the direct producer and his function in the production process, the purpose and means of his activity, the quality and quantity of products produced were determined not only by the level of development of the productive forces, but also by specific individuals: either the association of workers to which the individual belonged (primitive or peasant community, craft workshop, etc.); or representatives of the ruling class, in personal dependence, on whom the direct producer was (be it a rent-tax collector of an Asian state, a slave owner or a feudal lord).

1.2 Industrial society.

The improvement of artificial, man-made tools, of course, contributed to overcoming man's dependence on nature, creating the prerequisites for the transition from natural productive forces to social ones. The development of a system of tools and technology allowed man to increase the measure of power over external nature. Technology acts as a “second nature”, as nature transformed by man.

The Industrial Revolution liberates the individual: personal dependence is replaced by personal independence. It manifests itself in the fact that the appropriation of the means of production and means of subsistence in a market economy is not mediated by a person’s belonging to any group. Each commodity producer operates at his own peril and risk and determines for himself what, how and how much to produce, to whom, when and under what conditions to sell his products. However, this formal personal independence has as its basis a comprehensive material dependence on other commodity producers (and, above all, dependence in the production and consumption of vital goods).

The materialization of relations between commodity producers acts as the embryo of the alienation of labor, which characterizes various aspects of the dominance of past labor over living things, the product of labor over activity, and things over man, which has developed in a market economy. The prerequisites for overcoming it develop in the process of transition from an industrial society to a post-industrial one.

1.3 Post-industrial society.

In the course of the scientific and technological revolution, science turns into a direct productive force, the general productive forces become the leading element of the system of productive forces. If after the Neolithic revolution a post-appropriating, producing economy emerged, the basis of which was agriculture, and the result of the industrial revolution was the emergence of a post-agrarian economy, the basis of which was initially light and later heavy industry, then during the scientific and technological revolution a post-industrial economy emerges. The center of gravity is transferred to the non-productive sphere. In the mid-80s, over 70% of the US population was employed in the service sector. If in the agricultural economy the leading element was land, and in the industrial economy - capital, then in the modern economy, information and accumulated knowledge become the limiting factor.

New technologies were the result of the work not of “talented tinsmiths”, but of “highbrow intellectuals.” The result of their activities is a revolution in the field of telecommunications. If inХ1Х - first half XX V. The main forms of communication were newspapers, magazines, books, to which were then added the telephone, telegraph, radio and television, but now all of them are being replaced by computer communications. Knowledge and information become strategic resources. This leads, first of all, to significant changes in the territorial distribution of productive forces. In the pre-industrial era, cities arose at the intersections of trade routes; in the industrial era, near sources of raw materials and energy; technopolises of the post-industrial era grew up around scientific centers and large research laboratories (Silicon Valley in the USA).

In developed countries, material production itself is narrowing while the “knowledge industry” is growing rapidly. Thus, the prerequisites for the future society are created not only and not even so much in the material, but, in the words of K. Marx, on the other side of material production.

The scientific and technological revolution creates the preconditions for the development of relations of free individuality. They mark a stage that denies both the relationship of personal dependence and the relationship of material dependence, acting as a negation of negation. Relationships of personal dependence existed under conditions of the dominance of natural productive forces. They characterized a stage in the development of mankind when an individual could develop only within the framework of a limited, local collective on which he depended. Relationships of personal independence based on material dependence marked a level of development when, under the influence of the social division of labor, producers become isolated and they no longer need one or another form of naturally formed or historically developed collectivity and outgrow its framework. However, along with the formation of world relations and universal needs, a comprehensive process of reification of production relations develops, the alienation of essential forces from the worker occurs, their transformation into an alien force dominating him. The relationship of free individuality marks the stage of harmonious unity of man and nature, self-control of humanity and its social forces, and the intellectual progress of world civilization.

Personality acts as an end in itself of universal human development. At the same time, personality is the main instrument of progress.

The choice of a goal, the way to achieve it, as well as the organization of the direct labor process in a post-industrial society become not a technological, but a humanitarian task. This determines a high degree of independence of each person and gives truly free creative content to work. Now the main thing is obvious: how the market economy developed the type of person corresponding to it - “ homo economicus “, so post-industrial society will have its own form of sociality - free individuality.

2. Economic systems and their essence

The totality of all economic processes occurring in a society on the basis of property relations and organizational forms operating in it represents the economic system of this society. Having understood the essence of the system, one can understand many of the laws of the economic life of society.

2.1. Types and models of economic systems

Elements of the economic system. The main elements of the economic system are socio-economic relations based on the forms of ownership of economic resources and results of economic activity that have developed in each economic system; organizational forms of economic activity; economic mechanism, i.e. a way to regulate economic activity at the macroeconomic level; specific economic ties between economic entities.

In the last one and a half to two centuries, different types of economic systems have operated in the world: two market systems in which the market economy dominates - the market economy of free competition (pure capitalism) and the modern market economy (modern capitalism) and two non-market systems - traditional and administrative- team Within a particular economic system, there are diverse models of economic development of individual countries and regions.

Modern market economy (modern capitalism). Compared to all previous ones, the market system turned out to be the most flexible: it is capable of restructuring and adapting to changing internal and external conditions.

In the second half of this century, when the scientific and technological revolution began to develop widely and the production and social infrastructure began to develop especially rapidly, the state began to influence the development of the national economy much more actively. In this regard, the economic mechanism, organizational forms of economic activity and economic relations between economic entities have changed (Table 1).

Table 1. Some differences between modern capitalism and pure capitalism

Main features	Capitalism XVIII - XIX centuries.	Capitalism of the second half XX century
Economic regulation
Social guarantees	Social vulnerability of citizens in cases of unemployment, illness and old age

In a developed market economy, the economic mechanism undergoes significant changes. Planned management methods are further developed within individual firms in the form of a marketing management system. At the same time, at the macro level, the development of planning methods is associated with state regulation of the economy.

State sectoral and national programs (plans) also have a significant impact on the volume and structure of goods and services produced, ensuring their greater compliance with changing social needs.

At the same time, large firms take care of their employees, trying to intensify the work of staff, increase labor productivity, reduce the loss of working time and thereby strengthen the competitiveness of the company.

Traditional system In economically underdeveloped countries, there is a traditional economic system. This type of economic system is based on backward technology, widespread manual labor, and a multi-structured economy.

A multi-structured economy means the existence of various forms of economic management in a given economic system. Natural community forms based on communal collective farming and natural forms of distribution of the created product are preserved in a number of countries. Small-scale production is of great importance. It is based on private ownership of productive resources and the personal labor of their owner. In countries with a traditional system, small-scale commodity production is represented by numerous peasant and craft farms that dominate the economy.

In conditions of relatively poorly developed national entrepreneurship, foreign capital often plays a huge role in the economy of the countries under consideration.

The life of society is dominated by time-honored traditions and customs, religious and cultural values, caste and class divisions, holding back socio-economic progress.

Solving key economic problems has specific features within different structures. The traditional system is characterized by such a feature - the active role of the state. By redistributing a significant part of the national income through the budget, the state directs funds to develop infrastructure and provide social support to the poorest segments of the population.

Administrative command system (centrally planned, communist). This system previously dominated in the USSR, Eastern European countries and a number of Asian states. In recent years, many domestic and foreign economists have tried to give a generalized description of it in their works.

The characteristic features of the administrative-command system are public (and in reality state) ownership of almost all economic resources, monopolization and bureaucratization of the economy in specific forms, centralized economic planning as the basis of the economic mechanism.

The economic mechanism of the administrative-command system has a number of features. It assumes, firstly, direct management of all enterprises from a single center - the highest echelons of state power, which negates the independence of economic entities. Secondly, the state completely controls the production and distribution of products, as a result of which free market relationships between individual farms are excluded. Thirdly, the state apparatus manages economic activities using predominantly administrative and administrative methods, which undermines material interest in the results of labor.

With excessive centralization of executive power, bureaucratization of the economic mechanism and economic relations develops. By its nature, bureaucratic centralism is not capable of ensuring an increase in the efficiency of economic activity. The point here, first of all, is that complete nationalization of the economy causes monopolization of production and sales of products on an unprecedented scale. Giant monopolies, established in all areas of the national economy and supported by ministries and departments, in the absence of competition, do not care about the introduction of new equipment and technology. A deficit economy generated by monopoly is characterized by the absence of normal material and human reserves in case of an imbalance in the national economy.

In countries with an administrative-command system, the solution of general economic problems had its own specific characteristics. In accordance with the prevailing ideological guidelines, the task of determining the volume and structure of production was considered too serious and responsible to transfer its decision to the direct producers themselves - industrial enterprises, collective farms and state farms.

Therefore, the structure of social needs was determined directly by the central planning authorities. However, since it is fundamentally impossible to detail and anticipate changes in social needs on such a scale, these bodies were guided primarily by the task of satisfying minimal needs.

The centralized distribution of material goods, labor and financial resources was carried out without the participation of direct producers and consumers, in accordance with pre-selected “public” goals and criteria, on the basis of centralized planning. A significant part of the resources, in accordance with the prevailing ideological guidelines, was directed to the development of the military-industrial complex.

The distribution of created products among production participants was strictly regulated by central authorities through a universally applied tariff system, as well as centrally approved standards for funds in the wage fund. This led to the predominance of an equal approach to wages.

A distinctive feature of the distribution of products in the administrative-command system was the privileged position of the party and state elite.

The unviability of this system, its insusceptibility to the achievements of scientific and technological revolution and the inability to ensure the transition to an intensive type of economic development made radical socio-economic transformations inevitable in all former socialist countries. The strategy of economic reforms in these countries is determined by the laws of development of world civilization.

Models within systems. Each system has its own national models of economic organization, since countries differ in history, level of economic development, social and national conditions. Thus, in the administrative-command system there were the Soviet model, the Chinese model, etc. In the modern capitalist system, there are also various models. Let us note the most famous of them.

The American model is built on a system of comprehensive encouragement of entrepreneurial activity and enrichment of the most active part of the population. Low-income groups are provided with an acceptable standard of living through partial benefits and allowances. The task of social equality is not posed here at all. This model is based on a high level of labor productivity and mass orientation towards achieving personal success.

The Japanese model is characterized by a certain lag in the standard of living of the population (including the level of wages) from the growth of labor productivity. Due to this, a reduction in production costs and a sharp increase in its competitiveness in the world market are achieved. There are no obstacles to property stratification. Such a model is possible only with an exceptionally high development of national self-awareness, the priority of the interests of the nation over the interests of a particular person, and the willingness of the population to make certain material sacrifices for the sake of the country’s prosperity.

The Swedish model is distinguished by strong social policies aimed at reducing wealth inequality by redistributing national income in favor of the least affluent segments of the population. Here, only 4% of fixed assets are in the hands of the state, but the share of government spending was in the 80s. at 70% of GDP , with more than half of these expenditures going to social purposes. Naturally, this is only possible under conditions of high taxation. This model is called “functional socialization”, in which the production function falls on private enterprises operating on a competitive market basis, and the function of ensuring a high standard of living (including employment, education, social insurance) and many elements of infrastructure (transport, R&D) - on state.

In the last one and a half to two centuries, different types of economic systems have operated in the world: two market systems in which the market economy dominates - a market economy and a mixed economy, and two non-market systems - traditional and administrative-command. Within the framework of a particular economic system, there are diverse models of economic development of individual countries and regions.

Let us consider the characteristic features of the main types of economic systems.

2.2 Market economy

2.2.1 Characteristics of the market system

Pure capitalism, or capitalism of the era of free competition ( laissez faire ), characterized by private ownership of resources and the use of a system of markets and prices to coordinate and manage economic activity. The main issues have been discussed above.

One of the main prerequisites of pure capitalism is the personal freedom of all participants in economic activity, not only the capitalist entrepreneur, but also the employee.

In such a system, the behavior of each participant is motivated by his personal, selfish interests: each economic unit seeks to maximize its income based on individual decision-making. The market system functions as a mechanism through which individual decisions and preferences are made public and coordinated. The fact that goods and services are produced and resources are offered in a competitive environment means that there are many independently acting buyers and sellers of each product and resource. As a result, economic power is widely dispersed. The decisive condition for economic progress was the freedom of enterprise for those who had capital. A new level of development of the “human factor”, the main productive force of society, was reached. The employee and the capitalist-entrepreneur acted as legally equal agents of market relations. The concept of “free hired worker” presupposes the right to freely choose the buyer of labor power, the place of its sale, i.e. freedom of movement within the labor market. Like any commodity owner who sold his goods and received money for it, the hired worker had the freedom to choose items and ways to satisfy needs. The flip side of freedom of choice was personal responsibility for maintaining the workforce in good condition, for the correctness of the decision made, for compliance with the terms of the employment agreement.

What is the mechanism for solving the fundamental problems of economic development in the economic system under consideration? They are resolved indirectly, through prices and the market. Price fluctuations, their higher or lower levels serve as an indicator of social needs. Focusing on market conditions, the level and dynamics of prices, the commodity producer independently solves the problem of allocating all types of resources, producing those goods that are in demand on the market.

Entrepreneurs strive to receive more and more income (profit), to use natural, labor and investment resources as economically as possible and to realize as widely as possible such a resource as their creative and organizational (so-called entrepreneurial) abilities in their chosen field of activity, which serves as a powerful incentive for development and improvement production, reveals the creative possibilities of private property.

Defenders of pure capitalism argue that such an economic system favors resource efficiency, stability of production and employment, and rapid economic growth. That is why there is very little or no need for government planning, government control and intervention in the economic process. In fact, the term itself laissez faire roughly translated means "let him go as he goes" (" let it be "), that is, let the government not interfere in the economy. The rationale here is that such interference undermines the efficient functioning of the market system. The role of the government is therefore limited to protecting private property and establishing an appropriate legal structure to facilitate the functioning of free markets.

2.2.2 Assessing the role of the market system

Is the market system the best way to answer the fundamental questions posed above? This is also a difficult question: any complete answer to it inevitably goes beyond the facts and enters the realm of value judgments. But it follows that there is no scientific answer to such a question. The very fact that there are many alternative ways of allocating scarce resources, that is, many different economic systems, is clear evidence of divergence in assessments of the effectiveness of the market system.

2.3. Mixed economy

In the case of the connection and interweaving of various forms of economy, various formations, various civilizational systems, as well as more complex combinations of various elements of the system, we can talk about mixed economic systems (mixed economy). Their distinctive feature is the heterogeneity (heterogeneity) of their constituent elements.

Mixed systems have existed in different historical conditions. For example, at one time such a system was the colonate, which arose on the basis of a combination of slaveholding and feudal relations in Ancient Rome. In relation to modern conditions, a mixed economy appears in the following enlarged forms:

Mixed economy of developing (especially underdeveloped) countries, in which “mixing” is caused by a low level of development and the presence of backward economic forms;

Mixed economy of developed countries (developed mixed economy).

The ideas of a mixed economy, which appeared at the turn of the last two centuries and then became widespread, reflected real changes in socio-economic life, which especially intensified in the post-war period. These changes manifested themselves in the increasing complexity of the forms of interaction between the market and state regulation of the economy, private entrepreneurship and the process of socialization, as well as in the increasingly noticeable penetration of post-industrial (post-economic) principles into the structure of social systems.

The term “mixed economy” itself does not have an unambiguous interpretation. Its original and most common interpretation emphasizes the combination of different sectors of the economy (private and public) and the diversity of forms of ownership. The second position, which received an impetus from Keynesianism, highlights the problem of combining the market, the market mechanism and government regulation. The third position, initiated by various social reformist movements, is based on a combination of private enterprise capital and sociality, public social guarantees. Finally, another position arising from the civilizational approach focuses on the problem of the relationship between economic and non-economic principles in the structure of modern society.

These interpretations of a mixed economy in modern conditions do not contradict each other: they only reflect the presence of several lines of formation of the modern type of developed economy and their unity. A mixed economy is a simultaneous combination of these parameters, namely: a combination of the private and public sectors of the economy, market and government regulation, capitalist trends and socialization of life, economic and non-economic principles.

The parameters of a mixed economy are relatively independent. However, it is possible that one or another parameter or one of the groups of parameters may prevail in different countries.

The mixed nature of an economy is characterized not only by the presence of various structural elements in its composition, but also by the formation of specific forms of their combination in the real economy. An example of this could be public-private joint stock enterprises, contractual agreements between government agencies and private firms, social partnerships, etc.

Today, the mixed economy is an integral system, serving as an adequate form of a modern developed society. The elements that form it are based on such a level of productive forces and on such trends in socio-economic development that objectively require the addition of the market with government regulation, private economic initiative with social guarantees, as well as the inclusion of post-industrial principles in the economic structure of society. A mixed economy is not a conglomerate, although it is inferior to “pure” systems in the degree of homogeneity of its constituent elements.

2.3.1 Mixed economy models

The general line for the development of a mixed system does not mean uniformity and standardization.

In reality, different models of mixed economies are emerging in different countries and regions. They differ from each other in their “national mixing coefficients” of different forms of ownership, market and government regulation, capital and sociality, economic and post-economic aspects. This feature depends on many factors: the level and nature of the material and technical base, historical and geopolitical conditions for the formation of the social structure, national and sociocultural characteristics of the country, the influence of certain socio-political forces, etc. Moreover, in a mixed economy, as a rule, one or another side of the parameters may dominate.

The American model is a liberal market-capitalist model, which assumes the priority role of private property, a market-competitive mechanism, capitalist motivations, and a high level of social differentiation.

The German model is a model of a social market economy, which links the expansion of competitive principles with the creation of a special social infrastructure that mitigates the shortcomings of the market and capital, with the formation of a multi-layered institutional structure of subjects of social policy. In the German economic model, the state does not set economic goals - this lies in the plane of individual market decisions - but will create reliable legal and social framework conditions for the implementation of economic initiatives. Such framework conditions are embodied in civil society and social equality of individuals (equality of rights, starting opportunities and legal protection). They actually consist of two main parts: civil and economic law, on the one hand, and a system of measures to maintain a competitive environment, on the other. The most important task of the state is to ensure a balance between market efficiency and social justice. The interpretation of the state as a source and protector of legal norms regulating economic activity and competitive conditions does not go beyond the Western economic tradition. But the understanding of the state in the German model and, in general, in the concept of a social market economy differs from the understanding of the state in other market models in the idea of ​​more active state intervention in the economy.

The German model, combining the market with a high degree of state interventionism, is characterized by the following features:

individual freedom as a condition for the functioning of market mechanisms and decentralized decision-making. In turn, this condition is ensured by an active state policy of maintaining competition;

social equality - market distribution of income is determined by the amount of capital invested or the amount of individual effort, while achieving relative equality requires vigorous social policy. Social policy is based on the search for compromises between groups with opposing interests, as well as on the direct participation of the state in the provision of social benefits, for example, in housing construction;

countercyclical regulation;

stimulating technological and organizational innovation;

implementation of structural policy;

protection and promotion of competition. The listed features of the German model are derived from the fundamental principles of a social market economy, the first of which is the organic unity of the market and the state.

The Japanese model is a model of regulated corporate capitalism, in which favorable opportunities for capital accumulation are coupled with the active role of government regulation in the areas of economic development programming, structural, investment and foreign economic policy and with the special social significance of the corporate principle.

The Swedish model is a social democratic model that places the state as the supreme socio-economic power. Democratically elected government authorities are delegated enormous powers to regulate socio-economic life. However, it must be admitted that the conceptual differences between the social market economy and “Scandinavian socialism” are being erased in practice.

Thus, modern countries have set a course towards building a socially regulated market economy, which underlies the concept of a “mixed economic system”.

2.3.2. Characteristics of a mixed farming system

The political-economic concept of a social market economy is aimed at the synthesis of freedom guaranteed by the rule of law, economic freedom (which, due to the indivisibility of freedom, is considered as a necessary component of a free order in general) and the ideals of a welfare state associated with social security and social justice. This combination of goals - freedom and justice - is reflected in the concept of "social market economy". A market economy represents economic freedom. It lies in the freedom of consumers to buy products of their choice (freedom of consumption), freedom of production and trade, freedom of competition.

The expansion of the functions of the state in modern society while maintaining market freedoms, institutions and mechanisms is to a decisive extent determined by the increased complexity of the socio-economic process. Many of the fundamental problems of today's society cannot be effectively solved through market mechanisms alone. This is primarily the strengthening of the social sphere, which has become one of the most important sources of economic growth. Thus, the level of education, qualifications of the workforce and the state of scientific research directly affect the rate and quality of economic growth, which is confirmed by econometric calculations. Healthcare, social security and the environment have a huge impact on the quality of the workforce and economic development in general. The market by itself cannot create a powerful social sphere, although market mechanisms, especially competition, may have a strong social orientation.

The term "social" means:

1). “that the market economy, due to its economic efficiency, i.e. due to the fact that it creates economic prerequisites for “welfare for all” and represents economic freedoms limited by the inviolability of the rights of third parties, is social in nature;

2). that the market economy should be limited where it would lead to socially undesirable results, or that the results of the free economic process should be adjusted if, according to the value concepts of society, they are not sufficiently social."

Therefore, a socially oriented market economy aims to achieve both economic and non-economic goals, using a wide range of economic and social policy instruments.

In general, these goals can be formulated as follows:

ensuring economic growth and economic stability;

social security and social justice;

promotion of competition;

ensuring political stability.

In a mixed economy, the economic mechanism undergoes significant changes. Planned management methods are further developed within individual firms in the form of a marketing management system. At the same time, at the macro level, the development of planning methods is associated with state regulation of the economy.

Planfulness acts as a means of active adaptation to market requirements. As a result, the key tasks of economic development receive a new solution. Thus, the issue of the volume and structure of manufactured products is resolved on the basis of marketing research within firms, as well as an analysis of priority areas of scientific and technical progress, and a forecast for the development of social needs at the macro level. A market forecast allows you to reduce the production of obsolete goods in advance and move to qualitatively new models and types of products. The marketing production management system creates the opportunity, even before the start of production, to bring the individual costs of companies producing the bulk of goods of this type into line with socially necessary costs.

State sectoral and national programs (plans) also have a significant impact on the volume and structure of goods and services produced, ensuring their greater compliance with changing social needs.

The problem of using resources is solved within large companies on the basis of strategic planning, taking into account the most promising industries. At the same time, the redistribution of resources for the development of new industries occurs through budgetary allocations, state national and interstate programs, and R&D in priority areas of scientific and technological progress. For example, pan-European programs “Eureka”, “Esprit”, etc. are currently being implemented.

Finally, the task of distributing the created gross national product is solved not only on the basis of traditionally established forms, but is also complemented by the allocation of increasing resources by both large companies and the state for investments in the development of the “human factor”: financing of education systems, including retraining of workers in various qualifications, improvement of medical care for the population, social needs.

At least 30-40% of all government budget allocations in developed countries with market economies are currently allocated to social security and the implementation of numerous “poverty alleviation” programs.

2.4. Administrative command system

The non-market economic system created in our country and according to our model in a number of foreign countries has many different names: “scarcity economy”, “administrative command economy”, “non-commodity socialism”, etc.

It seems that the name “command-administrative system” most fully corresponds to the system of non-market economy. The economic basis of the analyzed system is directive (centralized) planning. Each and every determining center materializes its political will in the form of economic plans. The economy is dominated by state ownership. An absolutely centralized economic plan has a breakdown of directives by region, industry, and individual producers, including agriculture. An indispensable element of the system is the administrative collectivization of agriculture, which results in the expropriation of private labor property, the forced unification of private commodity producers into collective and state farms, strictly controlled by a centralized state that has completely monopolized the economy and power. The plan target, presented in the form of a mandatory directive, is communicated to each planning subject

2.4.1. Mechanism for adopting economic plans

Separately, it is necessary to say about the mechanism for adopting economic plans in the command-administrative system. The plan is adopted at the highest forum of the ruling political party and in the highest legislative body of the country, which sanctifies the merging of the political, executive and legislative structures of society and is one of the main signs of totalitarianism. After this, control over the implementation of the plan, which has taken the form of a law, can be carried out on the basis of administrative, criminal and party responsibility.

The directive assignment of the plan is accompanied by the allocation of free resources for the production unit and wage funds determined by the administrative center of the country. The common center determines not only the volume of allocated resources and wage funds, but also the range of goods. Elementary analysis shows that it is impossible to do this even approximately, at least for a small group of manufacturers. And if a country has great production potential, then the very thought of directive planning makes one think about the absurdity of such plans.

The management center is the undivided, i.e., absolutely monopoly owner of any product manufactured at the enterprises. Such economic practice in the absence of competition leads to only one result - producers can work, regardless of the quality of the product.

Manufacturers and wholesale consumers of industrial products are economically and administratively connected with each other. Consumers are deprived of the right to choose; they receive, but do not buy (although they pay money), only what is allocated to them by the manufacturer at the will of the center (see Fig. 2). The principle of matching supply and demand has been replaced by the will of the center, which materializes the adopted political and ideological decisions.

2.4.2 Factor income

In a market economy, factor incomes (wages, interest, profit, land rent) serve as incentives that contribute to the most efficient allocation of resources.

In a command system, wages are not a lever for the effective distribution of labor due to its strict decree by the state, regardless of the quality and quantity of products produced. The result is a lack of incentive for productive work (the mechanism for setting wages will be discussed further in connection with labor motivation and coercion).

The interest rate cannot serve in a command economy as a means of efficient allocation of investment. In conditions of preferential lending and chronic debt write-offs for unprofitable enterprises, there is no talk of any efficiency. Investments are made based on the ideological and political priorities of the ruling center.

Resources are given to producers either for free (land) or at a low price, and, therefore, their wasteful use is inevitable.

Under the conditions of a state monopoly on labor resources, investments and land, wages, interest and rent cannot be equilibrium prices, since there are no markets for labor, capital and land at all.

In a directive economy, in principle, the existence of such a category as opportunity costs is impossible, and, consequently, there is no distinction between economic and accounting profits. And the director of an industrial enterprise, and the director of a store, and the head of a bank - they are all deprived of an alternative to using free funds, because all these enterprises are owned by the state.

In the practice of a non-competitive economic system, there is no state of a marginal firm and there is also no enterprise receiving quasi-rent or a bankrupt firm. As a result, unprofitable enterprises receive subsidies, while profitable enterprises transfer funds to the budget, and there is no objective mechanism for determining efficiently operating enterprises. The absence of the stimulating role of profit and the threat of bankruptcy due to losses deprives enterprises of the need to operate effectively. The main goal is to implement the plan directive.

2.4.3 Budget constraint

Enterprises in any economic system strive to soften the hard budget constraint. This can be done partly in a market economy; monopoly power in the market allows the firm to dictate prices to one degree or another; turning to a loan allows you to soften the conditions of paragraph 4, etc., but note that even in these circumstances, the budget constraint of a market firm remains almost rigid: a loan is always provided under strict conditions and only if there are guarantees of its return, and in the field of pricing, monopolies are always limited by the effective demand of buyers.

It is important to note that enterprises, trying to fulfill the planning directive, are faced with a budget constraint. The meaning of the concept of a budget constraint is that the amount of cash income of an enterprise and its cash funds should potentially be equal to the amount of expenses of the enterprise for a certain period. There are several factors that make the budget constraint in a market economy strict:

Exogenous prices. This means that the enterprise is not a “price seeker”, but a “price taker”, i.e. the price is set by the market and an individual company is not able to influence purchase prices or the prices at which products are sold.

Strict taxation system. This means not just high taxes, but the fact that the enterprise cannot influence taxation standards and does not receive benefits when paying mandatory taxes.

Lack of free government assistance. This means that the state does not subsidize current production and does not cover capital investment costs free of charge.

Inability to obtain a loan. All resource purchases are paid for in cash. Intercompany lending is not permitted.

Impossibility of external financial investments. What is meant here is that the owners can withdraw profits, but they do not have the right to invest them again in the development of the enterprise.

In a command economy, an enterprise operates under a soft budget constraint. It is enough to refer to these five points and see that, firstly, a socialist enterprise can shift part of its resources to consumers - after all, in such a system monopoly firms dominate, or, as they say, the supplier dictates prices. Secondly, enterprises systematically receive tax breaks and deferrals in paying taxes. Thirdly, gratuitous government assistance (grants, subsidies, debt write-off, etc.) is widely practiced. Fourthly, loans are issued even when there are no guarantees of their repayment. Fifthly, external financial investments are often made not for the development of production, a to cover emerging financial difficulties, and all this at the expense of the state treasury. It is impossible to use borrowed funds using the securities market due to its absence under socialism.

The problem of coordination in different economic systems

Analysis of the problem of distribution of goods leads us to the problem of interaction between economic entities. After each economic entity has assessed its benefits and costs and made a choice, society is faced with the need to coordinate the economic activities of individual entities, which includes the need to:

coordinate decisions of manufacturers;

coordinate consumer decisions;

harmonize production and consumption decisions in general. This need is generated by many reasons, including the specialization of economic entities in certain types of economic activities.

Depending on how the problem of distribution of goods and, consequently, coordination of economic activity is solved, certain economic systems are distinguished. It is obvious that the characterizing features of a given economic system, differences in the methods of distribution of goods and coordination of economic activity, are determined by differences in the institutions and institutional structures that regulate economic behavior, as discussed above.

In the administrative system, the rigidity of patriarchal society is partly overcome by breaking the unambiguous connection between the economic subject and the norms of his behavior, although the role of ideological pressure is still very large. The rules and parameters of economic behavior, and the corresponding distribution of goods, are determined by the influence of the commanding (managing) subsystem, which is, first of all, the state, no matter what various forms it takes. The compliance of the behavior of an economic entity with control influences is ensured primarily by non-economic means, which, in addition to ideology, include the apparatus of coercion. Such coordination of economic activity provides opportunities for significant development through corresponding changes in the norms of economic behavior, as well as the concentration of resources under the control of the management subsystem. Its weak point is the lack of internal incentives for economic activity among economic entities subordinate to external commands and limited by them in their actions. Therefore, periods of rapid but short-lived development alternate in such systems with states of stagnation and decline.

In a market system, norms of economic behavior are formed on the basis of interaction between sellers and buyers. This combines, on the one hand, the possibilities of economic development by changing the parameters and rules of economic activity in the course of cooperation and competition, and on the other hand, the opportunity to ensure the individual interest of economic entities in such development using the institution of private property. At the same time, all economic entities are subject to the same universal rules, limiting the freedom of action of everyone by mandatory rules of law and the boundaries of their ownership, but ensuring a significant increase in independence and economic activity. At the same time, with the expansion of individual freedom of action, the overall orderliness and regulation of economic activity increases significantly. Therefore, the consequences of poor economic decisions can be quite severe. The role of coordinating the actions of economic entities and the distribution of goods in the economy is performed by the market mechanism, and primarily by the price system.

At any given moment in time, all systems for coordinating economic activity coexist in specific economic systems, combining in different proportions. As has been shown, each system has its own advantages and disadvantages. In a market system, the costs of economic activity associated in this case with the implementation of market transactions ( transactions ), take the form of transaction costs ( transaction cost ). They include the costs of collecting and processing information associated with determining the subject of the transaction, obtaining price and other information, determining one’s position, searching for a partner, disseminating information about the desire to enter into a transaction; the costs of negotiations and decision-making, including the development of the terms of a market agreement and its execution in a form that complies with legal standards; costs of monitoring and legal protection of the execution of the contract, such as monitoring the quality and other characteristics of the subject of the transaction, determining and protecting property rights (including in court), checking and ensuring compliance with the terms of the agreement.

The costs of economic activity associated with the functioning of the administrative system take the form of administrative costs. These include the costs of information support (obtaining information about the state of managed objects and processing it); costs of preparing administrative decisions (development of draft decisions, their approval in various divisions of the administrative apparatus, approval by those who have the right to make decisions); execution costs (communicating decisions made to the immediate executors, ensuring legal conditions for implementation, including the distribution of powers, control of higher organizations, functioning of the system of incentives and sanctions).

A comparison of the levels of transaction and administrative costs determines the relationship and boundaries of the operation of market and administrative mechanisms in a given specific economic system. The market ensures the most economical functioning of the coordination process, reducing one part of the transaction costs (for collecting information) to a minimum.

The problem of coordination in market conditions is analyzed using the circuit model and the supply and demand model.

The circular model divides the economy into two sectors: households and firms. Households use the income they receive from selling their resources—labor, capital, and land—to purchase goods and services from firms. Firms use the money they receive from selling goods and services to buy resources from households.

Fig. 1 Market mechanism

It is households who decide what to consume, and therefore what to produce. These decisions should serve as the basis for firms' production plans. Firms must coordinate their decisions to use scarce resources.

In a market system, the coordination problem is solved by two types of markets: the market for production resources and the market for consumer goods. The supply and demand model provides an explanation of the interaction between the business sector and the household sector. When two sectors interact to buy and sell in a product market, the model determines the price and quantity of goods sold. When they interact to buy and sell in the resource market, they determine the price and quantity of the resource.

Conclusions on course work

An indispensable part of economic systems are components, parts, that is, what it consists of and without which it is impossible. There are a lot of components of an economic system, and this characteristic of the system is of decisive importance in the comparative analysis of various systems. National economic systems can have different components, and when typing economic systems, this characteristic is of decisive importance. For example, in a planned economy there was simply no need for a currency system or a network of commercial banks. Although the problem remains debatable, this feature is decisive in the classification of economic systems.

The second attribute is the structure of the system, the compatibility of its elements. The system is stable and functions effectively with the compatibility of the parts, the interaction of which ensures the development of the system. This feature is of particular importance for the development of problems of transformation of economic systems. The destruction of the main element of the system leads to the destruction of the previous system, and not the main elements - to a gradual transformation (shock therapy or gradualism when carrying out reforms).

The third most important feature of a complex system is its internal structure of interconnected elements; its purposefulness, its desire to achieve a certain goal. Together with the means to achieve the goal, this feature constitutes the functional aspect of the system. It follows that the transformation of the economic system is not an end in itself, but a means of solving a certain target function.

The next, fourth, sign is related to the fact that the system operates in an environment external to it, with which it is connected by a variety of communications. The target orientation of the system is transferred from a higher order system. In relation to the economic system, this means that a given society sets certain goals for it and, depending on this, evaluates this system through a certain set of indicators.

And finally, there is the management aspect of the system, without which the system cannot purposefully develop. Regardless of whether management decisions are objective or subjective, consistency itself presupposes the presence of this attribute.

The characteristics of complex integral systems can be much greater, but we limited ourselves to these attributes, which sufficiently show the possible directions of searches in economic theory.

In conclusion, we note that with the conscious transformation of the economic system, the main condition for preventing its final collapse is the “smooth” withdrawal of “extra” elements and the introduction of new ones; to enable them to adapt to the new environment and avoid incompatibility of elements in this particular economic system. Based on the study, a table has been compiled. 2, which summarizes the main distinctive features of command-administrative, market and mixed economic systems.

Table 2. .

Main features	Market economy	Command economy	Mixed economy
The scale of socialization of production	Socialization of production within the enterprise	expropriation of private labor property, forced unification of private commodity producers into collective and state farms	Socialization and nationalization of part of the economy on a national and international scale
Predominant form of ownership	Economic activity of individual capitalist entrepreneurs	state ownership dominates	Economic activity based on collective private and state ownership
Budget Constraint Form	Tough	Soft
Incentives for productive work	Factor income (wages, profits, etc.)	Socialist competition	Factor income
Basic production principle		the will of the central government, materializing the political and ideological decisions made.	The principle of matching supply and demand
Economic regulation	Self-regulation of individual capital based on the free market with weak government intervention	strict control by a centralized state that completely monopolized the economy and power.	Active government regulation of the national economy to stimulate consumer demand and supply, prevent crises and unemployment, etc.
Competition	Eat	No	Eat
Shadow economy	Absent	Present	Only for goods prohibited by the state (drugs)
Coordination	The role of coordinating the actions of economic entities and placing goods in the economy is performed by the market mechanism, and, above all, the price system.	The rules and parameters of economic behavior, and the corresponding distribution of goods are determined by the influence of the commanding (managing) subsystem, which is the state	the role of coordinating the actions of economic entities and the distribution of goods is determined by both the market mechanism and government regulation.
Pricing	focuses on preventing a decline in production.	The state sets constant (fixed) prices	flexible prices
Wage	established in the process of competition in the relationship between supply and demand in the labor market	administrative wage setting	is established in the process of competition based on the relationship between supply and demand in the labor market, but the state sets the minimum wage.
Social guarantees	Social vulnerability of citizens in cases of unemployment, illness and old age	Guaranteed employment, free healthcare and education, social security	Establishment of public and private social insurance and welfare funds

Conclusion

In conclusion, I would like to say about our country; what awaits it in the near future, what path of economic development will it choose?

Russia today has a monetary economy with wage labor, albeit with some restrictions. It is not yet governed by a market agreement, that is, it is not yet a market economy. In the presence of a financial relationship without a financial market and poorly established and poorly controlled property rights, one can hardly qualify it as an economy with a capitalist principle, even a monopoly. On the contrary, it can be noted that this is an economy with a financial oligarchy, partially carrying out the primary accumulation of capital.

Consequently, the main problem for Russia is the development of a market economy on the basis of a monetary economy with wage labor and financial oligarchy, that is, the implementation of a market agreement. The tendency for prices to vary is precisely evidence of the absence of a single market. This difficulty in establishing a market agreement is one of the manifestations of Russian specificity or, more generally, what separates the post-Soviet “first world” from the “second world” - Central Europe.

The main centers of resistance to the market are located in Russia outside the production system, far from the pressure of final effective demand. On the contrary, they are close to both central and regional authorities.

What is Russia missing to move to the market? First of all, legal regulation, which in Russia is not part of the historical heritage. Law defines the relationship between equals - the rules of the game, which are the same for everyone and are prerequisites for the establishment of a market agreement. This is exactly what is usually called competition. On the contrary, the Russian vertical organization promotes systematic avoidance of this rule.

What is the possible future of the Russian economy? The first way is to follow the traditional scheme, according to which the modernization of Russian society is carried out “from above,” by the state or the ruling elite. This is exactly the path chosen by Russian reformers, but “bogged down” in oligarchic interests and rent-seeking logic. The condition for the implementation of such a scenario is the strengthening of central state power, which can only be achieved through evolution towards authoritarianism.

The second scenario leads to the formation of a weak state and the victory of the financial oligarchy. This is a catastrophic scenario with economic stagnation and huge social differentiation due to rent redistribution, as seen in Latin America, Asia or even Africa. It is entirely possible for the army to intervene to ensure social peace. In this case, is the financial oligarchy capable of changing its behavior and becoming the main subject of the country’s modernization, fighting rent-seeking attitudes? This is possible only when there is a threat of political changes that are dangerous for the oligarchy, which will then decide to unite the forces of reformers in order to survive and revolutionize society in order to prevent the threat.

Maybe Russia will be saved by the third scenario, which is unfortunately unlikely. This is a democratic option that requires new people to come to power who can propose a development plan that will resonate with the population. The main condition is the “liberation” of the budget from the financial oligarchy. The scenario in this case would be close to the Polish one: the initiative of small entrepreneurs would gradually change the agreements and rules of the game operating in the economy, which then spread to large privatized enterprises that are hostile to change. We can guarantee that in such a scenario, for the first time in its history, Russian society can modernize “from below.”

Russia will enter the next millennium with the problem of poverty. Among the “new poor”, the ones at greatest risk are the less qualified and less educated workers of the military-industrial complex, giants of heavy industry, and backward industries, who are most likely to fall into the category of beggars. Significant contingents of qualified, well-educated young workers of the military-industrial complex, industrial giants, as well as depressed regions may become needy and unsecured. It is among skilled workers in the military-industrial complex, heavy industry, and applied science that the focus, the central point of modern Russian poverty is localized. In the next 15 - 20 years, they will remain the best part of Russia's labor potential.

Equalization of income in society will occur only as a result of a number of factors related to long-term trends in economic growth, state fiscal policy and the redistribution of income through transfer payments, and the implementation of an active state income policy. The latter is designed to solve two main problems: regulate wage growth in order to stabilize prices and maintain income levels through social insurance programs and government assistance. One of the signs of optimizing the distribution of income in society is the predominant increase in the share of average incomes and a significant reduction in the share of the highest incomes in the general “pot”. As part of the policy of income regulation, it is promising - as evidenced by the experience of Germany - the development of mechanisms for voluntary (autonomous from the state) regulation of wages, giving unions of entrepreneurs and employees the right to free negotiations on concluding tariff agreements without government intervention. The role of the state in such a system is to determine the legislative framework regulating labor relations. The main problem of the modern period of the formation of scientific economic systems in domestic economic science can be considered the problem of combining universal approaches developed by world economic thought with the need to reflect the complex picture of modern economic reality.

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To prepare this work, materials were used from the site http://www.ef.wwww4.com/

See for example: Kornai. I. Deficit. M., 1990; GaidarE. Economic reforms and hierarchical structures. M., 1990.

GDP - gross domestic product; GNP is the gross national product (see Chapter II).

>Abstracts on social studies

Economy

What is economics? Economics is a balanced way of doing business, a set of rules for doing business in the production system, as well as in the sphere of distribution of goods and benefits, exchange and consumption. The term "economics" was first traced in the works of Xenophon even BC. e. Xenophon called economics a natural science. But Aristotle contrasted two sciences: chrematistics and economics. Chrematistics is a science that studies human activity in the sphere of relationships for profit.

Modern philosophy views the economy as a balance of relations on the part of society, associated with such a concept as value. The main task of the economy is the constant creation of conditions that can ensure normalized life activity and the existence of society in general. Economy, as an economic activity, makes it possible to satisfy human interest in resources that are currently limited.

Economics has different forms of manifestation:
1. Market
2. Administrative command
3. Traditional
4. Mixed economy

Economic growth is the production of goods that has undergone an increase in volume over a certain period of time.

Factors that lead to economic growth:

1. Large volume of high-quality labor.
2. Efficiency of fixed capital.
3. The volume of natural resources, their quality
4. Effective management
5. Latest technology

Signs of economic growth were first noticed in England at the end of the 18th century. The great industrial revolution led to economic growth at that time. Then the income of one citizen increased on average 10 times. Today, the most underdeveloped countries are forced to survive on a daily income, the size of which corresponds to 1 US dollar (at US prices)

Some analysts argue that economic growth could cause a worldwide collapse of natural resources. Other critics argue that there are many civilizations that have disappeared because the surrounding ecosystem failed to provide enough resources for the growth of these civilizations.

Economics implies a complex all-encompassing complex capable of creating conditions for the life of an individual and society as a whole.

INTRODUCTION
The test introduces the basic concepts of economics, the subject and method of studying economics.

Every person literally at every step is faced with various economic problems: how to satisfy their needs for food, clothing, education, recreation, etc., what economic activity to engage in, whether to buy or not buy this or that product, whether there is enough income to purchase the necessary product, etc.

Economy- this is part of people’s everyday life, people take part in economic activities on a daily basis, live in an economic environment, constantly use the terms used by economists (money, prices, wages, income, expenses, etc.). It is impossible to live and be outside the economy. Each of us is familiar with the word “economy,” although different people put different meanings into it. And many today ask “what is economics?” can be confusing. It should not be surprising that, living surrounded by the economy, we find it difficult to say what it is. This circumstance is explained by the fact that economics is such a general, capacious, polysemantic concept that it is not possible to define it in one phrase.

It is believed that the term “economics” was invented back in the 6th century. BC e. the Greek poet Hespodos, combining two words: “oikos” (house, household) and “nomos” (know, law), which literally means art, knowledge, a set of rules for housekeeping. This term was introduced into scientific circulation by representatives of ancient Greek economic thought by Xenophon (c. 430-355 or 354 BC), who wrote a work called “Economikos,” and Aristotle (384-322 BC). ). The latter divided the science of wealth into “economy” (the totality of use values) and “chrematistics” (the art of making money). But times change, and with them the meaning of old words changes. Currently, the term “savings” has become widespread, but in a slightly modified form. Today it is usually understood as cost reduction and frugality in the expenditure of any resources. For society as a whole, economy means the use of economic resources that leads to the maximum increase in the standard of living in a given society.
1The concept of economics. general characteristics
Economics as a science is the methodological foundation of a whole complex of sciences: sectoral (economics of trade, industry, transport, construction, etc.); functional (finance, credit, marketing, management, forecasting, etc.); intersectoral (economic geography, demography, statistics, etc.).

Economics as a science is one of the social sciences, along with history, philosophy, law, etc. It is designed to reveal a certain part of the social phenomena of human life, for example, the science of law is one, the science of morality is another, etc., and only the totality of theoretical social and historical sciences are able to explain to us all social life.

The word "economics" is of ancient Greek origin. It is a combination of two Greek words “economy” and “law”, so that in the literal, original sense, the economy should be interpreted as an economy conducted in accordance with laws, rules, norms. At the same time, we must remember that the economy in Ancient Greece was mainly subsistence, domestic, so the economy of that period was thought of not as the national economy of the country, but rather as home economics. In the literature on economics and in explanatory dictionaries, the term “economics” in its original interpretation is usually characterized as “the art of housekeeping.”

Nowadays, the word “economy” has several meanings.1

Economy is a way of organizing people’s activities aimed at creating the goods they need for consumption, a science that studies people’s behavior related to the production, distribution and consumption of the goods they need.

Economy- this is the economy itself in the broad sense of the word, that is, the totality of all means, objects, things, substances of the material and spiritual world, used by people to ensure living conditions and meet needs. In this sense, the economy must be perceived as a life support system created and used by man, reproducing people’s lives, maintaining and improving living conditions.

1Raizberga, B.A. Economics course [Text]: textbook / Raizberga B.A. – M.: INFRA, 2001. -716 p.

E
economics– is a science, a body of knowledge about the economy and related human activities, about the use of various, most often limited, resources in order to meet the vital needs of people and society; about the relationships that arise between people in the process of managing.

In order to terminologically divide economics as an economy and as a science, the word “economics” in foreign literature will be divided into two: “economics” and “economics”. The first means economics, that is, economics in its direct, natural manifestation, and the second means economic science, or more precisely, economic theory. This division contributes to greater clarity and certainty in understanding the economy. Along with the objective perception of the economy as an economic system and the idea of ​​the economy as a body of knowledge about the economic system, some authors tend to see a third meaning in the word “economy”. They characterize the economy as the relationships that arise between people in connection with the processes of production, distribution, exchange, consumption of goods and during these processes. So in general, economics is economics, the science of economics and management, and relationships between people in the process of management. Well, the economy should include everything that is included by people in the orbit of actions aimed at obtaining and using means of subsistence, satisfying vital needs. Economics is a special world, with its own laws and problems, dramas and contradictions. It is complex and mysterious, this world of economics, and most importantly, it is open to everyone who wants to become an active participant in it.

Modern economics is an endless detective story: here randomness is “pretended” to be a pattern, and pattern is “rejected” by randomness; this is the right to economic independence and the possibility of stunning commercial success.2

It is impossible to be outside the economy: like invisible rays, economic relations permeate the life of every person. And no matter how “abstract” the questions of the economic structure of society may seem, the everyday happiness of people depends on them: if this is a reasonable structure, then people are free and rich, and their work is fruitful; if the economic structure is mediocre, then they are dependent and poor, because forced labor is always fruitless.

2Mamedov O.Yu. Modern economics [Text]: Lecture course. Multi-level textbook / Mamedov O.Yu. – Rostov n/d.: Phoenix, 2002. -544 p.

Economic science is not always able to predict the specific course of events, but it is able to discover their economic logic, and its practical value lies in the knowledge of this logic.

Economic knowledge is a means of salvation from social superstition, ruinous ignorance and repetition of already committed mistakes. The study of economic science is also important because it forms the foundations of intelligence, something that, as it now turns out, we can no longer do without. Economic theory operates with many abstract concepts and models, so its knowledge also fosters a culture of socially abstract thinking.

Modern economic science introduces the high ethics of economic relations, because a reasonable and effective economy can only be moral - one in which decency, professionalism and civic feelings are valued - while pseudo-economics can be neither effective nor moral, for it is destined only generate massive criminogenic aspirations. Economic theory focuses on genuine social values: economic freedom of the individual, the right to profitable property, to entrepreneurship - values ​​that should enter the everyday, everyday consciousness of our society. The most important thing is that the study of modern economic theory introduces people to civilized forms of economic activity. The fact is that as society develops, its wealth increasingly consists of those economic forms that ensure the most efficient production of material values.

The modern economy is a community of independent people striving for economic independence who are ready to build their material well-being through their own efforts. The transition to a civilized, efficient market economy begins with the desire to become such people. It is precisely this kind of economic revolution in the public consciousness that we most need today. Overcoming our crisis is difficult not for economic, but for social and political reasons, since this is a crisis of an artificially organized “economy.” That is why today it is most important to free up the economic energy of the individual through the “privatization” of all public life.

Modern economic science is one of the greatest intellectual and practically significant achievements of mankind. Only thanks to economic science did people penetrate the secrets of the structure of social production and were able to create a mechanism for its optimal regulation: economic models are no less important than natural science ones, and without the recommendations of economic science, the effective functioning of modern production is simply unthinkable!

2
SUBJECT OF ECONOMICS

Economic science arose much later than economics itself. For many millennia, people have managed their households based on experience passed down from generation to generation. Knowledge and ideas were empirical in nature and were not generalized and synthesized into a single scientific system. The predecessors of scientific economics were philosophy and sociology.

The subject of economics as an independent field of knowledge emerged about 300 years ago, when political economy was born - a harbinger of future economic theory. Over the time since then, especially over the last 150 years, ideas about the subject of economic science have significantly transformed. To the question: “What is economics as a science?” - the creators and brightest representatives of this branch of knowledge, economists, give far from unambiguous answers. We can distinguish at least three noticeably different approaches to formulating the subject of economics as a science.

At first, the idea of ​​economics arose as studying the creation and use of material goods, obtaining material means of subsistence. The origins of this vision are clearly visible in the father of economics, A. Smith, and are clearly reflected in the following definition, written by the outstanding English economist A. Marshall: “Economic science studies that sphere of individual and social action that is closely related to the creation and use of the material foundations of well-being.” . 100 years later, the limitation of such a formulation from the standpoint of modern economic ideas lies in the fact that it excludes the so-called intangible production in the form of spiritual, intellectual activity, and services from the sphere of economic activity. In addition, according to the definition given, economic science turns out to be tied to the sphere of production, while the circulation, exchange, and consumption of goods remain outside its field of vision.

In recent years, an approach to formulating the subject of economic science based on the use of the concept of “limited resources” has become widespread. According to this approach, the main task of economic science is to analyze possible (alternative) ways of using limited economic resources necessary to achieve certain goals, allowing one to choose the best alternative. In other words, economics studies the behavior of people and advises them how to act in conditions where they have to compare goals and limited means of achieving them, taking into account the various possibilities of using these means.

The definition of economic science as a science that studies activities related to the production, distribution, exchange and consumption of goods and services looks more complete and comprehensive. Thus, the American professor P. Samuelson, one of the first Nobel Prize laureates in economics, the author of the world-famous textbook “Economics,” briefly characterizes the subject of studying economic theory as “the establishment and implementation of consumption and production,” “types of activities related to exchange and monetary transactions between them,” citing at the same time other definitions and thereby emphasizing that the formulation of the subject of economic science can be neither unique nor accurate.

Professor P. Samuelson gives the following possible definitions of the subject of economic theory:

The science of activities related to exchange and monetary transactions between people;

The science of people's use of rare or limited productive resources (land, labor, capital goods such as machines, technical knowledge) to produce various goods (such as wheat, beef, coats, concerts, roads, and yachts) and distribute them among members of society for consumption purposes;

The science of the daily business activities of people, their means of subsistence and the use of these means;

The science of how humanity copes with its tasks in the field of consumption and production;

The science of wealth.

By combining different approaches, we can come to a generalized definition of economic science, which, in the formulation of P. Samuelson and V. Nordhaus, looks like this: “Economic theory is the science of how people and society choose how to use scarce resources that can have multiple purposes , in order to produce a variety of goods and distribute them now or in the future for the consumption of various individuals and groups of society." The definition is somewhat cumbersome, but quite comprehensive.3

There is another original definition of economic science. According to this definition, economic science is a body of knowledge that allows us to answer three groups of interrelated questions:

1. What should be produced and in what quantities?

2. How should goods be produced, who should produce them, from what resources, using what technologies?

3. For whom are the goods and services produced, for whom are they produced, and how are they distributed among consumers?4

Sometimes these three groups of questions are stated very briefly: “What? How? For whom?" The answer to the first question characterizes the structure of production, the second - technology, and the third - the sphere of consumption of the product being manufactured.

However, this definition is not exhaustive. After all, you also need to know where to produce, how to distribute or sell the produced product, how to link production and consumption. So the number of questions that economic science is designed to answer can be increased to five, as individual economists do: what, how, why to produce, how to distribute and how to consume the product of production, use it.

It is fundamentally important to imagine and understand that economic science is not limited to predetermined limits, it is constantly expanding its field of action, penetrating into other areas, especially into the social and human sciences. Along with its traditional object (production, circulation, consumption of goods), economic knowledge deeply permeates the entire social sphere and is applicable to almost all types of relationships - in the family, social groups, production teams, and in society. Economics closely interacts with philosophy, sociology, psychology, law, history, geography, computer science, mathematics, and a number of natural sciences.

3Mamedov O.Yu. Modern economics [Text]: Lecture course. Multi-level textbook / Mamedov O.Yu. – Rostov n/d.: Phoenix, 2002. -544 p.

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METHODS FOR STUDYING ECONOMICS
If the subject of science is characterized by what it studies, then the method is how it is studied. One follows from the other. The reality of the results depends on the correctly adopted method.

Economics as a science uses a wide range of methods of scientific knowledge.

Method- this is a set of techniques, methods, principles with the help of which ways to achieve a goal are determined.

One of these methods in the study of economic phenomena is the method of scientific abstraction (from the Latin abstractio - abstraction). The researcher abstracts from the secondary aspects of phenomena in order to identify what is essential and constantly repeated in them. This is how general concepts arise: production in general, needs, distribution, exchange, etc.

The method of scientific abstraction, although the most important, is not the only method of scientific knowledge used in economic theory. Analysis and synthesis, induction and deduction, historical and logical methods, economic and mathematical modeling, economic experiment, etc. are actively used here.

Analysis- this is the mental division of the phenomenon being studied into its component parts and the study of each of these parts separately. Through synthesis, economic theory recreates a single holistic picture.

Induction and deduction are widely used. Through induction (guidance), a transition is ensured from the study of individual facts to general provisions and conclusions. Deduction (inference) makes it possible to move from general conclusions to relatively specific ones. Analysis and synthesis, induction and deduction are applied in unity by economic theory. Their combination provides a systematic (integrated) approach to complex (multi-element) phenomena of economic life.

Every science uses a certain amount of research methods. These methods are divided into: general (philosophical), equipping all areas of knowledge, for example, metaphysical and dialectical methods, general scientific - historical, logical, mathematical, etc., and specific - for each branch of science.

4Borisov, E.F. Economic theory [Text]: textbook / E.F. Borisov. - M.: Yurayt, 1999. - 384 p.

In economic theory, two, although opposite, but interrelated philosophical methods are used - metaphysics and dialectics.

Metaphysics considers all phenomena separately, in a state of rest and immutability. This is necessary in cases where some element of the system is analyzed separately or the internal structure of economic relations is clarified. We will do the same, for example, when classifying types of property, forms of economic management, functions of money, types of markets, forms of wages.

Economic theory reflects reality more fully when it takes into account dialectics- the doctrine of the most general laws of formation and development of all phenomena of nature, society and thinking. The German philosopher Georg Hegel (1770-1831), the creator of the systematic theory of dialectics, gave a central place to contradiction in this theory. He viewed the latter as a unity of mutually exclusive and at the same time mutually presupposing opposites. Hegel assessed contradiction as a “motor,” as an internal impulse of all development. This, of course, fully applies to the economy.
CONCLUSION
At the end of this test, the following conclusions can be drawn.

Economics is closely related to other economic sciences: macro- and microeconomics, management and marketing theory, statistics, accounting, etc. The subject of study of this science is the activity of an enterprise, the process of developing and making business decisions.

The main objects of study are the production activities of the enterprise, the mechanisms of formation and use of the main factors of production and economic resources of the enterprise.

The enterprise operates in a certain business environment, which influences all aspects of its activities. When developing an enterprise development strategy, it is important to take into account its state, development prospects, dynamics, and various areas of influence.

The method of comparative analysis, statistical, graphical, probabilistic methods, forecasting and other methods of economic sciences are widely used in enterprise economics. The development of competent economic decisions is impossible without knowledge of economic laws, the presence of specific economic knowledge, skills, and the ability to use them in practice.

REFERENCES
:

Reisberg, B.A. Economics course [Text]: textbook/B.A. Riseberg. – M.: INFRA, 2001. – 716 p.

Borisov, E.F. Economic theory [Text]: textbook / E.F. Borisov. - M.: Yurayt, 1999. - 384 p.

Zhuravleva, G.P. Economics [Text]: textbook/G.P. Zhuravleva. - M.: Lawyer, 2001. - 574 p.

Bulatova, A.S. Economics [Text]: textbook/A.S.Bulatova. – M.: Lawyer, 1999. – 557 p.

Mamedov, O.Yu. Modern economics [Text]: Lecture course. Multi-level textbook/O.Yu. Mamedov. – Rostov n/d.: Phoenix, 2002. – 544 p.