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

Example Sentences

Critics of capitalism call the market economy unfair, arguing that big corporations don’t pay low-income employees a living wage.

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China has surpassed every other market economy to become No. 2.

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When China began embracing a market economy in the 1970s, its leaders made a similar demand to American companies.

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A modern market economy like the UK depends on a basic assumption of truthfulness, points out Dr David Hugh-Jones, a social scientist formerly based at the University of East Anglia.

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When considering a president's influence on the economy, it's important to recognize that we have a market economy, said Michael Walden, a Reynolds Distinguished Professor Emeritus at North Carolina State University.

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