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The Economy of the United States

The American economy is a dynamic, free-market system that is constantly evolving out of the choices and decisions made by millions of citizens who play multiple, often overlapping roles as consumers, producers, investors and voters. The United States is generally described as a mixed economy, which means that even though the great majority of productive resources are privately owned the federal government does play an important part in the marketplace.

By any standard, the American economy that has evolved over less than 250 years has been immensely successful. With less than 5 percent of the world's population, the United States in the early 1990s produced about 25 percent of the world's output. The United States is among the leading industrial and agricultural nations of the Globe. It is the world's greatest economic power in terms of gross national product (GNP) and is among the greatest powers in terms of GNP per capita. The nation's wealth is partly a reflection of its rich natural resources and advanced agriculture, but the main factor is its highly developed industry. The US economy benefits from rich natural resources. With only 5 percent of the world's output of coal, copper, and crude petroleum, the United States is the world's second largest petroleum-producing nation. One of the most important sectors in terms of value added is the manufacture of transportation equipment, including motor vehicles, aircraft, and space equipment. Other important sectors include machinery, food products, and chemicals.

International trade plays an important part in the US economy, too. Its exports present more than 10 percent of the world total. Major exports and imports include machinery and transportation equipment (electrical goods, motor vehicles and parts), chemicals, mineral fuel, etc. Chief exports are also aircraft, computers, wheat and corn. A free-trade treaty was signed with Canada in 1989, and in 1993 the North American Free Trade Agreement created a free-trade region comprising the USA, Canada, and Mexico. The leading trading partners are also Japan, China, Great Britain, and Germany.

The United States takes part in the economy of the rest of the world not only as a trading power but also as a source of investment capital. The USA has penetrated deeply into the Canadian economy where American multinational corporations have large investments. Mining, petroleum, natural gas, and much of the manufacturing enterprise are dominated by American firms. Direct investment abroad by US firms is a dominant factor in the economies of many Latin-American countries and is also important in Europe and in Asia.

Basic Issues of the US Economy. Although the American economy has transformed itself over the years, certain issues have persisted since the early days of the republic. One is the continuing debate over the proper role of government in what is basically a marketplace economy. An economy based on free enterprise is generally characterized by private ownership and initiative, with a relative absence of government involvement. However, enterprises that are often in public hands in other countries, such as airlines and telephone systems, are run privately in the United States. The principal effort of the government traditionally has been the fostering of competition through enforcement of antitrust laws. These are designed to combat collusion among companies with respect to prices, output levels, or market shares and, where feasible, to prevent mergers that significantly reduce competition. The major area of government regulation of economic activity is through fiscal and monetary policy. The government also influences certain sectors of the economy as a purchaser of goods, notably in the aircraft and aerospace industries. Proposals for governmental controls of prices and incomes have been a frequent source of much controversy.