Capitalism has been with America since 1776 in one way or another. Companies like Caswell-Massey, Jim Beam, JP Morgan Chase, DuPont and Colgate, have been around since The US's inception. While America remains capitalist, our country has started to take a turn. Now many of our presidential candidates are socialists or have socialist ideals. This need or desire has likely been fueled by The United States' poverty. With many of our current issues, US citizens have been wondering weather a laissez-faire capitalist system is right for this country, or if we should move more to socialism. And here is why we need a right balance of both.
Now, a right balance doesn't exactly mean 50-50. It could be 60-40 or even 80-20 either way. For those unaware, socialism according to Merriam-Webster is "any of various economic and political theories advocating collective or governmental ownership and administration of the means of production and distribution of goods." And capitalism is defined as "an economic system characterized by private or corporate ownership of capital goods, by investments that are determined by private decision, and by prices, production, and the distribution of goods that are determined mainly by competition in a free market." Laissez-faire capitalism is a belief that the government should have as little involvement as possible in corporate affairs.
The Pros:
Laissez-faire capitalism gives many businesses the freedom to do much more. Rules and regulations often weigh-down these corporations. Forcing them to take less risks, reducing innovation.
With fewer regulations, companies can often cut down the price of production, which can lead to cheaper prices. Which then leads to a better free market.
Without heavy restrictions, smaller businesses can get up faster without having to adhere to as many rules.
With laissez-faire capitalism, our government would be less involved in the stability of many failing business. Allowing the government to spend less tax dollars on supporting these companies.
The Cons:
With a laissez-faire system. The government wouldn't be able to spend more on startups, which would diversify the free market place.
With fewer regulations, business could contribute in unfair practices. Allowing them to underpay their employees and opt out of offering any benefits as well. They could also meet up with other competitors and decide to create an equal price-point, meaning everything would have the same high price. Actions like these are currently illegal.
Without as many rules, larger business can buy out the resources from start ups. Which would drastically decrease the number of new business.
In a laissez-faire system, failing companies wouldn't be able to receive government support. Meaning that they would have to shutdown, eliminating thousands of jobs.
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I'm sure that there are more pros and cons, but these were the big ones that are most important.
In my opinion, America needs a laissez-faire system in some elements of our economy, and others don't.
For example, The United States should support business going through a drought, but shouldn't spend too much on supporting a dying company. Instead, that money should be used on funding startups to take the place of that company at some point in time in the future. Businesses should be allowed to pay their employees a fair price that matches their size. Amazon shouldn't be allowed to pay their employees 2 dollars per hour. And startups shouldn't have to pay 20 dollars an hour for employees working part time. The ultimate goal of our economy should be to have a free and open market without undermining the people.
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