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今天带给大家Alevel经济笔记是：
第5章：Free Market v. Command Economies——Theoretical Economic Systems
Basically, there are only three systems.
At one extreme we have the free market economy , where there is a very limited role for the government.
At the other end we have the command economy , where the government takes virtually total control.
As with market structures (with perfect competition and monopoly ), these two extremes are highly unrealistic.
Just about every economy in the world is a mix of the two, and is, therefore, called a mixed economy .
The question is, what is the degree of mix?
基本上，只有三个系统。在一个极端，我们拥有 自由市场经济 ，政府的作用非常有限。另一方面，我们有 命令经济 ，政府几乎完全控制。与市场结构（ 完全竞争 和 垄断 ）一样，这两个极端是非常不现实的。世界上几乎每个经济体都是两者的混合体，因此被称为 混合经济体 。问题是，混合度是多少？
Let's see how these different systems answer the three basic economic questions (see above).让我们看看这些不同的系统如何回答三个基本的经济问题（见上文）
A free market economy
自由市场经济
Before we look at how the three questions are answered, we must quickly look at some of the characteristics of a free market economy.
在我们了解这三个问题的答案之前，我们必须快速了解一下自由市场经济的一些特征。
Characteristics of this system
本系统的特点
Ownership:
Nearly all of the country's factors of production are owned privately.
Although it might make sense to argue that firms own some of the resources, it is private individuals, or groups of individuals, who own the resources.
They then rent them out to the firms so that they can produce the goods and services.
Richard Branson is in charge of Virgin, but first and foremost he is a private individual who owns the majority of the shares. He could get someone else to run the company.
This brings into play one of the government's limited roles.
Through the legal system, the government must uphold the property rights of these private individuals.
所有权： 该国几乎所有的 生产 要素都归私人所有。尽管认为公司拥有一些资源可能是有道理的，但拥有这些资源的是私人或个人群体。然后他们将它们出租给公司，以便他们生产商品和服务。理查德布兰森负责维珍，但首先他是拥有大部分股份的个人。他可以让其他人来管理公司。这发挥了政府的有限作用之一。通过法律制度，政府必须维护这些私人的财产权。
Objectives:
Everyone in this system is motivated by pure self-interest.
Consumers maximise welfare, firms maximise profits and the private individuals, who own the factors of production, aim to maximise rents (on land), wages (on labour), interest and profit (on capital).
目标： 这个系统中的每个人都受到纯粹的自身利益的驱使。消费者最大化福利，企业最大化利润，拥有生产要素的私人旨在最大化租金（土地）、工资（劳动力）、利息和利润（资本）。
Free enterprise:
Basically, firms can sell anything they want. They effectively respond to the consumers, who are allowed to buy anything that is sold by the producers.
Workers can take on any job they want (this may seem obvious, but wait and see what happens in the command economy).
自由企业： 基本上，公司可以出售他们想要的任何东西。他们有效地回应了消费者，他们被允许购买生产者出售的任何东西。工人可以从事他们想要的任何工作（这似乎很明显，但请等着看在命令经济中会发生什么）。
The level of competition:
Very high. Basically, it is assumed that nearly every market is a perfectly competitive one, with numerous buyers and sellers and no barriers to entry or exit .
Firms are competing desperately for customers and the consumers are competing with each other for the goods on offer.
竞争水平： 非常高。基本上，假设几乎每个市场都是 完全竞争 的市场，有众多的买家和卖家， 没有进入或退出的障碍 。企业在拼命争夺客户，消费者也在为提供的商品相互竞争。
The pricing system:
Nearly all markets are perfectly competitive. You may remember that in these circumstances, the price mechanism allocates the economy's resources.
The reason why it is called the price' mechanism is because the price acts as a signal and an incentive for producers to act in the required way so as to maximise their gain, which, in turn, optimises the allocation of resources in the whole economy.
定价系统： 几乎所有市场都是完全竞争的。您可能还记得，在这些情况下， 价格机制 分配经济资源。之所以称其为价格机制，是因为价格作为一种信号和激励机制，促使生产者按照规定的方式采取行动，以使他们的收益最大化，进而优化整个经济中的资源配置。 .
What, how and for whom?
We now need to see how these three important questions are answered in a free market economy.
我们现在需要看看在自由市场经济中如何回答这三个重要问题。
What will be produced?
会生产什么？
You might think that the firms decide what is finally produced. Actually, in a free market economy, it is the consumers who have all the power.
Consumer sovereignty exists. In a free market, a firm will only produce a good if the consumer is prepared to buy it.
Through their purchases (or money 'votes') consumers effectively dictate to the firms what should be produced.
If consumers, on mass, stop buying bitter (perhaps they prefer drinking lager in pubs) then the producers (the brewers) would stop making it.
So the answer to the question is, "whatever the consumers want."
你可能认为公司决定最终生产什么。实际上，在自由市场经济中，拥有一切权力的是消费者。 消费者主权 存在。在自由市场中，只有当消费者准备购买时，企业才会生产一种商品。通过他们的购买（或金钱“投票”），消费者有效地决定了公司应该生产什么。如果消费者大规模停止购买苦酒（也许他们更喜欢在酒吧里喝啤酒），那么生产商（酿酒商）将停止生产。所以这个问题的答案是“消费者想要什么”。
How will it be produced?
它将如何生产？
The simple answer is, "the firms." But there is more to this question than that.
"How" also means "how well."
Due to the highly competitive environment that exists, there will be pressure on firms to produce the goods as efficiently as possible and keep their prices as low as possible.
As we said earlier, most industries will be perfectly competitive, so in the long run firms should be both productively efficient and alloctively efficient .
简单的答案是“公司”。但这个问题远不止这些。“如何”也意味着“有多好”。由于存在高度竞争的环境，企业将面临尽可能高效地生产商品并保持价格尽可能低的压力。正如我们之前所说，大多数行业将是完全竞争的，因此从长远来看，企业应该既具有 生产效率 又 具有配置效率 。
For whom will it be produced?
它将为谁生产？
In other words, who actually ends up consuming the goods that are produced?
Well, we said earlier that consumers' money votes determines what is actually produced.
But it will also determine what consumers can actually buy.
Those with more money will be able to consume more of the goods produced. Who has the most money?
The rich, of course, but why are they rich. For some, it is inherited wealth, earning high incomes from the sales of the factors of production that they own (renting land and making profit and interest from capital).
换句话说，谁实际上最终消费了所生产的商品？好吧，我们之前说过，消费者的钱票决定了实际生产的是什么。但这也将决定消费者实际可以购买什么。那些有更多钱的人将能够消费更多的产品。谁的钱最多？当然是富人，但他们为什么富有。对于一些人来说，这是继承的财富，通过出售他们拥有的生产要素（租用土地并从资本中赚取利润和利息）获得高收入。
For others, who inherited nothing, their wealth may come from the successful sale of their labour services.
David Beckham came from nothing, but he is able to sell his labour services (kicking a football!) for tens of thousands of pounds a week!
对于没有继承权的其他人来说，他们的财富可能来自于劳务的成功出售。大卫贝克汉姆白手起家，但他能够以每周数万英镑的价格出售他的劳务（踢足球！）！
Of course, in this system, if you have nothing and you do not have marketable labour skills (for most people this will be a good education), then you will remain poor.
The free market system tends to create an unfair distribution of income. The wealthy consume a disproportionately large share of what is produced.
当然，在这个系统中，如果你一无所有，也没有适销对路的劳动技能（对大多数人来说，这将是一个很好的教育），那么你将仍然贫穷。自由市场体系往往会造成收入分配不公平。富人消费了不成比例的大部分产品。
A command economy
指令经济
As with the free market system, before we look at how the three questions are answered, we must quickly look at some of the characteristics of a command economy.
Remember that, in complete contrast to the free market economy, a command economy has a very powerful government sector (or 'planners') and the workers and consumers are subordinate.
与自由市场体系一样，在我们研究如何回答这三个问题之前，我们必须快速了解一下命令经济的一些特征。请记住，与自由市场经济完全相反，指令经济拥有非常强大的政府部门（或“计划者”），而工人和消费者处于从属地位。
Characteristics of this system
本系统的特点
1、Ownership:
Nearly all of the country's factors of production are owned publicly by the government (or the state).
The only factor over which the government does not have total control is labour, but as you will see, they certainly have indirect control over the workers.
所有权： 该国几乎所有的生产要素都由政府（或国家）公开所有。政府不能完全控制的唯一因素是劳动力，但正如你将看到的，他们当然对工人有间接控制。
2、Objectives:
The complete opposite of the pure self-interest of the free market system. No one (in theory) thinks of himself (or herself).
Consumers, workers and the government are all assumed to be working for the 'common good'.
This system is often associated with communist Soviet Union (as it was before 1989), but the fascist Hitler ran a 'planned' economy, albeit rather dictatorially.
I'm not sure that system ended up being for the common good!
Also, democratic countries often attempt a less severe form of planned economy via socialism.
目标： 与自由市场体系的纯粹自身利益完全相反。没有人（理论上）会想到自己（或她自己）。消费者、工人和政府都被认为是为“共同利益”而工作。这个系统通常与共产主义苏联联系在一起（就像 1989 年之前一样），但法西斯希特勒运行的是“计划”经济，尽管相当独裁。我不确定该系统最终是否是为了共同利益！此外，民主国家经常通过社会主义尝试一种不太严重的计划经济形式。
3、Free enterprise: There is none.
自由企业： 没有。
4、The level of competition:
Very little. Certainly, in the former Soviet Union, black markets used to develop as a result of shortages in the shops.
There would be competition between these racketeers, I suppose. But in theory there was no competition.
竞争水平： 很少。当然，在前苏联， *市黑** 过去是由于商店短缺而发展起来的。我想这些敲诈者之间会有竞争。但理论上没有竞争。
5、The pricing system:
There is no competition, so there is no price mechanism. The authorities set the prices.
It is because they set prices at low levels to make sure that everyone can afford the goods that excess demand occurs causing long queues for goods outside shops.
Another inevitable consequence is the creation of black markets.
定价体系： 没有竞争，也就没有价格机制。当局设定价格。正是因为他们将价格定得很低，以确保每个人都能买得起商品，才会出现需求过剩，导致商店外商品排长队。另一个不可避免的后果是*市黑**的产生。
6、The planning system:
This is an extra characteristic of the command economy.
The other five has tried to follow the five given in the 'free market economy' section.
As the government runs the system, they have the job of planning how all the resources should be used. They have to decide what should be produced and in what quantities.
They must decide how the goods are to be made. What labour should be used and where? What techniques of production shall we use?
How will the completed goods be divided between the workers (or consumers)? The key point is that they directly set the output levels and price levels.
计划制度： 这是指令经济的一个额外特征。其他五个试图效仿“自由市场经济”部分给出的五个。当政府运行该系统时，他们的工作是计划如何使用所有资源。他们必须决定应该生产什么以及生产多少。他们必须决定如何制造货物。应该使用什么劳动力以及在哪里使用？我们应该使用什么生产技术？完成的商品将如何在工人（或消费者）之间分配？关键是他们 直接 设定了产出水平 和 价格水平。
What, how and for whom?
什么，如何以及为谁？
We now need to see how these three important questions are answered in a command economy.
Notice that the brief answer to all three questions is, "It's up to the planners."
我们现在需要看看这三个重要问题如何在指令经济中得到解答。请注意，所有三个问题的简短回答都是“由计划者决定”。
What will be produced?
会生产什么？
The consumer no longer has any control. The planners (or the government) decide what will be produced.
The question is, how do the planners know what the consumers want and need better than the consumers themselves?
消费者不再有任何控制权。计划者（或政府）决定生产什么。问题是，规划者如何比消费者自己更了解消费者想要什么和需要什么？
How will it be produced?
它将如何生产？
There are no such things as 'firms' in a planned economy.
The planners direct the resources into producing 'units'.
They are not really firms. They have no autonomy.
So, as we said above, the planners decide on the quantities of output and methods of production.
计划经济中没有“企业”之类的东西。规划者将资源用于生产“单位”。他们不是真正的公司。他们没有自主权。因此，正如我们上面所说，计划者决定产出数量和生产方法。
For whom will it be produced?
它将为谁生产？
In the free market, the richer you were, the more you could buy.
Of course, very poor people could end up with very little.
The planner tries to be fair in distributing the output of the economy.
Wages are determined by the planners, as are the prices of the goods produced.
So the government is, effectively, determining how much each consumer can consume.
在自由市场上，你越富有，你能买到的就越多。当然，非常贫穷的人最终可能会得到很少的东西。计划者试图公平分配经济产出。工资由计划者决定，所生产商品的价格也是如此。因此，政府有效地决定了每个消费者可以消费多少。
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关于Alevel经济笔记第5章：Free Market v. Command Economies后续的更新计划如下：
