DEFINING ECONOMIC SYSTEMS from Kendall Capitalism An economic system characterized by private ownership of the means of production from which personal profits can be derived through market competition and without government intervention Socialism An economic system characterized by public ownership of the means of production the pursuit of collective goals and centralized decision making Democratic Socialism A type of Mixed Economy in which private ownership of some of the means of production is combined with governmental distribution of some essential goods and services and free elections Kendall Examples Sweden Great Britain France Also Canada Australia other European nations Study Americans Vastly Underestimate Wealth Inequality Study Authors Dan Ariely Duke University Michael Norton Harvard Business School Year 2010 Finding 1 Americans believed that the richest 20 should own only 32 of the wealth Americans thought that the richest 20 of the country controlled 59 of the wealth In reality the richest 20 of Americans control 84 of America s wealth Ariely and Norton Study Cont Finding 2 When presented with unlabeled pie charts representing the wealth distributions of the U S where the richest 20 control 84 of the wealth and Sweden where the richest 20 only control 36 of the wealth 92 of Americans said they would prefer to live in Sweden DEFINITIONS Social Stratification the hierarchical arrangement of large social groups on the basis of their control over basic resources Class System a system of social inequality based on the ownership and control of resources and on the type of work people do