The Pillars Of Free Enterprise.

Each September students everywhere buy the notebooks, paper and other supplies they will need to start the school year.

Did you ever wonder how just about everything you needed got to the store's shelves? How does it happen that stores are so well stocked with school supplies

in September, while at other times they are stocked with Christmas wrappings, Valentine cards, or Easter baskets? To carry these questions still further, how is it that the things people need for everyday living are so readily available?

In the United States, the economic system, capitalism or free enterprise, and the social and political institutions answer those questions. They have enabled the country to produce more goods and services than any other nation in history.

The free enterprise system rests on certain traditions, beliefs and practices that set it apart from other economic systems. These "pillars" of our economic system are private property, the price system and competition. Private Property. Unlike people in many other parts of the world, Americans are able to own property for business purposes and use it to produce income. Nearly 90 percent of the goods and services produced in this country each year come from privately owned firms.

The right to private property gives the owners of natural resources and capital the incentive to use their assets as efficiently as they can. Why? Because property owners know they will make a profit if they can produce goods and services that buyers want, at a price they are willing to pay. The advantages of private property and its incentives were summarized by "the father of modern economics," Adam Smith, in his famous work, "The Wealth of Nations".