market economy

[mahr-kit i-kon-uh-mee]

noun

1. a capitalistic economic system in which there is free competition and prices are determined by the interaction of supply and demand.

market economy

1. An economy in which the greater part of production, distribution, and exchange is controlled by individuals and privately owned corporations rather than by the government, and in which government interference in the market is minimal. Although a total market economy is probably only theoretically possible (because it would exclude taxation and regulation of any kind), capitalist economies approximate it and socialist economies are antithetical to it (see capitalism and socialism). Market economies are also called free economies, free markets, or free enterprise systems.

Word History and Origins

Origin of market economy¹

First recorded in 1915–20