Introduction
Mixed economy is a kind of economy in which both private enterprises and public enterprises operate. The means of production in the economy is held partly by state entities and partly by private entities because such countries possess the elements of socialism and capitalism. Having private business entities in an economy ensures timely making of economic decisions. The government on the other hand ensures that the economy operates in a stable environment. For instance, it ensures that private enterprises are protected from unfair competition. It also ensures the consumer is protected from counterfeit products and high product prices from producers. The existence of privately owned businesses ensures perfect competition in the economy. The availability of competition compels companies in the industry to improve the quality of goods and services they offer.
Comparison of private and state entities
The U.S. possesses a typical mixed economy. It is a social democratic country and therefore it allows existence of government entities as well as private entities. Some of the state entities existing include the Federal Reserve, the department of education, the military department among others. The private section comprises of individual owned businesses such as the Chevron Corporation and the Ford Company. The websites of the Chevron and the Ford Corporations are similar in a number of ways. First, their websites are more appealing to the eyes. Images of beautiful vehicles with attractive colors persuade whoever is online to see what is advertised (Baumol and Blinder 85). Secondly, the companies advertise the kind of advanced technology they use to reduce environmental pollution while at the same time reducing operational costs. They also utilize advanced technology to improve quality of products offered. Generally, the main aim of these companies is to improve their profits (Frank and Bernanke 81).
On the contrary, state websites elaborate on various methods and policies set up by the state to stimulate the economy. For instance, the education department indicates that the government is preparing to pump $150 million in innovation program to support evidence-based practices in education. Similarly, the Federal Reserve puts technical specifications on those providing credit cards to consumers. All this enhances welfare of the society by ensuring education system is uplifted and consumers are protected from unfair treatment by private business entities. Although there have been differences, the two types of enterprises have similarities such as a common goal for all entities (Frank and Bernanke 81).
Scarcity and resources utilization
According to the video, scarcity means needing more than is available because “human desires cannot be satisfied by the limited resources.” As much as we satisfy one, want another desire arise and so there is no enough resources to satisfy all of them completely.
Early in the 20th, Alaska was under great exploitation of its mineral resources in order to fulfill the unlimited human wants. The mining of valuable minerals such as chromium, steel among others was going on at the expense of the wildlife. In 1930s when war was on rise, manufacturing of weapons as well as fighters of the war consumed much of the resources at the expense of civilian goods necessary to sustain the country. In this period, the economy was operating below the production possibility curve. During that time, Alaska was running short of natural recourses due to massive exploitation of minerals. The government initiated various restriction measures to protect thousand of acres from exploitation such as enactment of laws restricting exploitation of resources. However, this only increased the number of issues since employees were rendered unemployed. The solution to unemployment was obtained by utilizing advanced technology to increase manufacture of products hence creating employment for workers (Baumol and Blinder 102).
In spite of the employment, employees faced health risks that led to the enactment of the occupation health safety enactment act in 1970 that protected employees from cotton dust that caused Brown lung disease. In accordance to the video, price of life generally means the amount of money a company spends in ensuring health safety of the workers. The Supreme Court advocated for the “occupational health safety (1970)”. Life and health of textile company workers was more valuable than the profit the company made.
References
Baumol, William and Blinder, Alan. Economics: Principles and Policy, 11 Edn. Mason, OH: Southwestern Cengage Learning. 2010.
Frank, Robert and Bernanke, Ben. Principles of Economics, 4 Edn. New York, NY: McGraw-Hill Irwin. 2009. Print.