Mayfield chapter 3 Vocab
welfare state
A blend of capitalism and socialism that relies on markets to make most economic decisions but which provides government benefits to ensure the social equality of all citizens
Five-Year Plan
A comprehensive, centralized economic plan designed to achieve rapid industrialization in the Soviet Union
World Trade Organization (WTO)
A international organization that regulates trade among most of the world's nations
communism
A political and an economic framework where all property is collectively owned, labor is organized for the common advantage of the community, and everyone consumes according to their needs
authoritarian socialism
A socialist system in which the entire economy is controlled by a central government
piecework
A system of paying workers for each piece of output they produce rather than for the number of hours they work
keiretsu
A tightly knit group of Japanese firms governed by an external board of directors made up of potential competitors
democratic socialism
An arrangement in which a socialist economic system exists alongside a democratic government, which controls some areas of the economy
socialism
An economic system in which the government owns and runs some of the basic productive resources in order to distribute output in ways deemed to be in the best interest of society
communism
An economic system in which, in theory, the means of production are owned collectively by all the people and in which there is no need for a government
capitalism
An economic system where the means of production are privately owned and supply and demand determine prices
five-year plans
Centralized planning system that once was the basis for China's economic system
capital-intensive
Describing industries that use a large amount of capital for every person employed
perestroika
Gorbachev's policy of fundamental restructuring of the economy and government
state farms
Large farms entirely owned and operated by the Soviet government
transparency
Process of making business dealings more visible to everyone, especially government regulators
collateral
Property or other security used to guarantee repayment of a loan
collective farms
Small private farms collected into large units for joint operation
proletariat
Term used by Karl Marx and by other communists to mean workers
Gosplan
The central planning authority in the Soviet economy, which devised Five-Year Plans and broke them down into one-year periods for implementation
privatization
The conversion of state-owned factories and property to private ownership
collectivization
The forced common ownership of agricultural, industrial, and trading enterprises
infrastructure
The highways, mass transit, communications, power, water, sewerage, and other public goods needed to support a large population
storming
The practice of rushing production at the end of the month to make up for slower production at the beginning of the month
privatization
The process of changing the ownership of the means of production from government ownership to private ownership
bourgeoisie
a) the middle class, particularly distinct from the upper class and the poor b) the people who own the means of production in a capitalist nation
command system
an economic system in which basic economic decisions are made by the government
market system
an economic system in which the three economic questions are answered by individuals and businesses