Socialism vs capitalism. Business & Marketing Essay

Economy and Socialism
Student’s Name
Institution
 Economy and Socialism
The two distinct economic systems identified by both the present day and ancient economists are capitalism and socialism.  Capitalism is a market-driven economy in which private ownership of property, business or labor is a major characteristic. On the contrary, socialism is a command-based economy in which a central authority like the government controls the economic structure of production. In reality, most world economists exhibit a mixture of the two economic systems depending on what they perceive to best serve its people. Either of the two economic systems have their benefits and shortcomings as well. The main aim of socialism is to promote equity whereas capitalism focuses on profit-making and competition.  Socialism emerged as a counter-attack measure against the oppressive and unjust nature of capitalism. According to Self (2017), socialism came to light as a result of a German philosopher and an economist Karl Marx. Even though socialism dates back to the ancient times of Plato, with the emergence of early socialist in the nineteenth century like Owen and Fourier, it is Marx who has a greater influence on socialism. Marx had the idea that the society is naturally made up of classes, with the people of high class having the control over the other. Through the twentieth century, communism and democracy around the world became the most common influencers of socialism. Up until now, socialism has grown in its popularity even in the United States. The core significance of capitalism is fairness and equality. For capitalism to prevail, there are numerous guiding principles that different scholars have identified as observed in the work of Roemer (2017). Socialism is primarily base...