Every society has to have a certain amount of coordination in its economic activities. In primitive hunting and gathering societies, this coordination is provided by the family rules and mutual agreement among the persons doing the work. In socieites that have cities, the coordination of economic activity in the city is often provided by the religion or the government or guilds. The greater the division of labor (the more specialists there are) the greater the needs of the workers for coordination. Also the problems of coordination become greater very quickly. On the other hand, the benefits of successful coordination also increase quickly.
In modern economies there are a number of economic structures or processes which are used to provide a measure of coordination for the economy. These systems each function somewhat imperfectly in their coordination efforts. In each case the structure will function as well or better in the improved money economy. We will examine three major economic structures: supply and demand, capitalism/free-enterprise, and socialism. Note that we call them "structures" because they each constitute a set of organized and interdependent rules and expectations.
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