Should governments today play a greater role in the operation of their economies?.

             In a perfect world everyone would have a job, and would have all which they need to live, however, this is not always the case. Poorer countries may not have the necessary productivity to sustain their economies, working conditions may be awful, or sometimes people may not even have the right to own and operate their own business. This situation is probably caused from too much government intervention. On the other hand, if there is too little government intervention the workers rights could be exploited in order for the industry owners to make more profit. In order for a nation"s economy to be successful, that nation must have high productivity, rights for all of its population, and a high standard of living. This can be achieved through some government regulation and the successful use of some points of the market economy system. .

             Some countries that have, or had, a failing economy used centrally planned economic ideologies. The Soviet Union is a good example of a country that has used centrally planned economic ideas and that has had their economy fail. The failure of the Soviet Union"s economy was the effect of no substantial change in the way the economy was run in over 60 years. In 1928, Stalin wanted to improve the country"s economy by increasing its industrialization. In order for increased industrialization, an increase of productivity was in need. The first five-year plan Stalin implemented drastically increased the USSR"s production of steel, electric power, machinery, and new industries. However, peasants, who were once farmers and now worked in factories, were frustrated since they were not prepared for their new way of life. These peasants were forced to work in the factories since new machinery had replaced them on the farms were they once worked. However, the new machinery helped to increase agricultural production since they were more efficient and effective.