Survey about when a country is capitalist, socialist

[MindWanderer]

There seems to be a lot of ambiguity and different definitions of what it means for a country to be capitalist, or socialist, so I’d like to see how other people would define capitalist or socialist COUNTRIES, not defining capitalism and socialism itself.

And decide for some examples as well.

I’d say capitalism exists in almost any country, but I wouldn’t call it a capitalist country unless the market is predominantly (more than 50%) unregulated. If 80 percent of the economic activity (industries, etc) is nationalized or heavily regulated so as to no longer provide the reward schemes capitalism would, I would say that is not a capitalist country. My reason for this definition is I don’t think you should look at capitalism first for flaws in a country like I just described.

I would define a socialist country as one in which an extensive “safety net” exists as well as the redistributive system and “progressive” taxation to support that. I’d say all three have to exist, and emphasize extensive safety net (medical, food, shelter).

For examples I’ll give USA, France and China

I’d say the USA is still a capitalist country, although many industries are regulated, but not 50%. We are not a socialist country because there isn’t enough support to get by without working anymore, but it is debateable. I think the lack of enough money for rent considering high prices of that would make it hard to live on the very very limited government assistance plus they kick you off after a while.

France, whether they are a capitalist country would take me a long while to figure out. There are a lot of regulations that I know of, but I have no idea how many are unregulated. I’d say they are somewhere on the edge. I think they are definitely socialist.

China is not capitalist, although I have heard they opened up some areas, I doubt it comes to anywhere near half there economy. Whether you can get by there without working I doubt it, but I’d assume, you work pretty much because they tell you to, like in the old Soviet Union, not because you need the money.

My definitions may be really bad, but thats what I’ve had and I’m curious what other people would say as well as the examples. I can’t really think of many really really capitalist countries or I’d give an example of them. There’s a lot of regulations in the US that people in Europe probably don’t know about and likely many things I’m missing with China and France. If its relevant, I lean towards Minarchist libertarianism myself, which probably affects my definitions.

[Really_Not_All_That_Bright]

@MindWanderer

There seems to be a lot of ambiguity and different definitions of what it means for a country to be capitalist, or socialist, so I’d like to see how other people would define capitalist or socialist COUNTRIES, not defining capitalism and socialism itself.

And decide for some examples as well.

I’d say capitalism exists in almost any country, but I wouldn’t call it a capitalist country unless the market is predominantly (more than 50%) unregulated. If 80 percent of the economic activity (industries, etc) is nationalized or heavily regulated so as to no longer provide the reward schemes capitalism would, I would say that is not a capitalist country. My reason for this definition is I don’t think you should look at capitalism first for flaws in a country like I just described.

I would define a socialist country as one in which an extensive “safety net” exists as well as the redistributive system and “progressive” taxation to support that. I’d say all three have to exist, and emphasize extensive safety net (medical, food, shelter).

For examples I’ll give USA, France and China

I’d say the USA is still a capitalist country, although many industries are regulated, but not 50%. We are not a socialist country because there isn’t enough support to get by without working anymore, but it is debateable. I think the lack of enough money for rent considering high prices of that would make it hard to live on the very very limited government assistance plus they kick you off after a while.

France, whether they are a capitalist country would take me a long while to figure out. There are a lot of regulations that I know of, but I have no idea how many are unregulated. I’d say they are somewhere on the edge. I think they are definitely socialist.

China is not capitalist, although I have heard they opened up some areas, I doubt it comes to anywhere near half there economy. Whether you can get by there without working I doubt it, but I’d assume, you work pretty much because they tell you to, like in the old Soviet Union, not because you need the money.

My definitions may be really bad, but thats what I’ve had and I’m curious what other people would say as well as the examples. I can’t really think of many really really capitalist countries or I’d give an example of them. There’s a lot of regulations in the US that people in Europe probably don’t know about and likely many things I’m missing with China and France. If its relevant, I lean towards Minarchist libertarianism myself, which probably affects my definitions.

Just my HO- I was quite stunned when I moved to the US from the UK to discover that a lot of people thought of it as a socialist country. Given the massive privatization which began with Thatcher, and the retrenchment of the welfare state over the same period, I’d say the only thing which makes the UK “less capitalist” than the United States is universal healthcare.

Of course, it can only be a matter of time- within the next twenty years, IMHO- until the United States provides for its citizens what almost every nation with the economic ability does.

I always thought of pre-handover Hong Kong as the closest thing to a purely capitalist state (even though technically it wasn’t and isn’t a state), and even there I believe universal healthcare was available- correct me if I’m wrong.

Perhaps Singapore is the best remaining example?

[friedo]

All countries are mixed economies. Some are more capitalist (market economy) and some are more socialist (command economy) but all have elements of both.