Business Free

Understanding Free Market Economies
Purely free market economies and command economies exist more as theoretical concepts than as tangible realities; almost all of the world's economies feature some elements of both systems and are classified as mixed economies. For example, although the United States allows companies to set prices and workers to negotiate wages, the government establishes parameters such as minimum wages and antitrust laws that must be followed. The U.S. government furthermore has several regulatory bodies such as the FDA, EPA, FCC, and SEC that can intervene in firms or markets. Most countries, too, have some type of taxation and impose trade controls such as quotas and tariffs.