Hey there!
This is your teacher Mr. H.,
and you’re watching History in a Hoodie.
Today’s episode is about Asian economic
systems where we will learn all about how
money is earned.
I can’t wait to find out!
Well then, let’s get this show started!
What are we learning about today?
The standard for today’s lesson asks the
students to compare how traditional, command,
and market economies answer the basic economic
questions.
We will also explain that countries have a
mixed economic system located on a continuum
between pure market and pure command.
Finally, we will compare and contrast the
economic systems in China, India, Japan, and
the Koreas.
Before we start, let’s go over some vocabulary
for today’s lesson.
For the third and final time this year, you
should already understand the three basic
economic systems and how they are represented
on a continuum, so we will briefly review
these topics before exploring how they appear
in Asian countries.
The three basic economic systems are: market,
command, and traditional.
Traditional economies are never used for whole
countries – too old school for modern economies.
Market and command are the systems that matter.
A market economy is one where businesses and
consumers make the decisions about what to
buy and sell.
A business can decide what they are going
to produce or what service they will offer,
and the business will also decide how much
they are willing to sell their product or
service for.
Then people will decide to buy or not to buy.
Command Economies are very different from
Market Economies.
Instead of businesses and people having the
freedom with their money, the government decides
everything to do with the economy.
Planners decide what each company will produce
and the price that it will be sold for.
People are told what they can and cannot purchase.
In the end, not a ton of choice for everyday
citizens in a true command economy.
But, there is no such thing as a country that
is truly command or truly market.
Every country in the world has some qualities
of market and some qualities of command – which
means every country in the world is actually
a Mixed Economy.
How much command or how much market is really
the questions, and we display that answer
on an economic continuum graph like the one
shown later in this video.
Countries closer to the market side will have
a mostly free economy with just some government
intervention in certain areas of the economy.
For example, a country may allow most businesses
to do what they want, but utilities like water,
electric, and sewage are run by the government
to make sure every person gets clean and safe
access to water and power.
On the other hand, some countries are closer
to the command side and have a mostly controlled
economy with just some business freedoms.
This usually means that people in the country
are still under government control, but some
businesses are allowed to participate in international
trade, under supervision by government officials.
So, what?
What do economic systems look like in Asian
countries?
India is developing into an open-market economy,
but it’s status is mixed with elements of
a formerly command system remaining.
The country began installing free market plans
in the 1980s, including removing rules on
industries, allowing citizens to run industries
once ran by the government, and opening up
foreign trade.
These all increased growth.
The country still has some room to grow by
eliminating corruption, growing infrastructure
like roads and utility systems, and overcoming
poor financial planning in the past.
China’s economy has changed greatly since
the days of Mao and the Great Leap Forward.
Home to over a quarter of the world’s population,
the country now benefits from engaging in
the global economy.
While many industries and businesses are still
run by the government, and those that are
private businesses are heavily controlled
with rules and laws, leadership appears to
be stepping back from that level of control
to help grow the national GDP.
Japan is among the freest economies in the
world.
This country has benefitted greatly from a
stable government and a well-maintained rule
of law to protect and strengthen its economic
freedom.
The government has taken great measures in
the years following WWII and even more recently
to reform the economy to keep growth high.
Japan was highly interested in developing
the Trans-Pacific Partnership, a free trade
agreement with the US and Asian countries
but was disappointed when the US backed out
of the deal.
South Korea, like Japan, has seen extreme
economic growth in the past 70 years thanks
to its highly free economy.
The government has recently enacted plans
to help out consumers by shrinking debt, raising
taxes on corporations and the extremely wealthy,
and by increasing the minimum wage nationally.
North Korea couldn’t be further away from
the success that their neighbors to the south
have experienced.
They rank as one of, if not the most economically
repressed nation in the world.
The closest example to a purely command system,
this nation only survives due to foreign aid
and financial support.
A mostly agricultural country, their problems
have only gotten bigger with recent famines,
poor soil quality, and not enough farmable
land in the first place to feed their population.
Wow!
So, learning about Asian economic systems
is really important for me to understand.
I’m glad I learned it today!
Are you ready for some review questions?
I hope all the rest of 
you learned a lot from today’s episode of
“History in a Hoodie” about economic systems
in Asia.
If you did, don’t forget to like, subscribe,
and share….
Just kidding, I don’t care about that stuff.
But do make sure you study this lesson.
Bye now!
