Question

One way of measuring how socialist or capitalist a country leans is to:

A) measure how much the government spends as a percentage of the economy. If the government spends very little we can assume that it leans capitalist.

B) measure how much the government spends as a percentage of the economy. If the government spends very little we can assume that it leans socialist.

C) measure how much it protects private property rights. If the government protects them with vigor we can assume it leans strongly socialist.

D) the question is mistaken. There is no rational way to rank nations on how capitalist or socialist it is. It is all personal opinion.

Answer 1

There are two concerns of the role of the government in a capitalist economy, first being its interference and second being its protection of property rights. If government interferes minimal and spends only on maintaining law and order, social welfare programs and at the same time, allows market to function freely through the provision of property rights, then it can be argued that it is leaning for capitalism

Select option A.