Fascism, Communism, and Mixed Economies Compared

Fascism, Communism, and Mixed Economies Compared

All three of these governmental-economic systems attempt to increase productivity. The. mixed economies permit more individual initiative, while communism and fascism limit individual freedom sharply and depend upon centralized government agencies for planning economic goals and activities. Insofar as they are industrialized, they tend to reduce the extremes of wealth and poverty. Yet in all three types of societies, inequalities in income persist. In the communist society, inequalities in income stem from unequal wage and salary scales which allow a professional or managerial person to earn several times as much as a common laborer and from, "fringe" benefits such as villas, cars, and special luxury shops available only to the communist elite. In the fascist society and in the mixed economy, property ownership 'and inheritances to great differences in income. The greatest inequalities are  found in the less-developed countries, whose wealthy live even more lavishly than the American wealthy, but whose poor live at a level which makes American welfare clients look rich by comparison. International trade blunts the differences between different political-economic systems [Wallerstein, 1974, 1979; Chase-Dunn, 1980]. All modem nations need many imports, which must be paid for by exports. Capital is borrowed and lent on an international market. This, changes in the world economy over which a single state has little control may be even more significant than the type of political- economic system in a state.