Econ-Chapter 5 Flashcards
Socialism
an individual’s cost or value, we spread it to society, at large.
The market reflects individuals’s values of goods and services by
people paying private costs to receive things privately value.
socialism asserts
that the individual should act to promote the good of society, not to promote the individual’s wellbeing
Karl Marx
who is often pointed to as the founder of socialism, said, production should come “from each, according to his ability, to each, according to his need”
Authoritarian choice
wether the state’s decisions are made by a dictator, the peoples’ elected representatives, or by popular vote.
Original rationales of socialism
- firms have more power than individuals, so they exploit workers.
- fairness, different social classes
Marx’s prediction
Machines would replace people, which would equal unemployment .
Modern Rationale’s for socialism
we must socialize individual decisions by state force in order to counter nature’s socializing effects
external costs
some cost or value that naturally spill over to others
externalities
external costs and benefits
efficient assessment of external costs and benefits must be done by
those who have knowledge of all facets of the economy and nothing to to gain from the regulatory process
Authoritarian decision makers choose for others based on…
their own assessments of values and costs
The state can respond in two ways to maintain order:
- allow individual choice= not maintaining socialist order
- use force and the threat of force to maintain the socialist order
Concept of socialism
the individual should act to promote the good of society, not the individuals wellbeing
all socialist orders
serve the individuals who run the state
Fascism
a system under which the state does not take title to property, but orders the use of that property and the individual in any way it wishes