Education Time: A Lesson In Economic Systems

With Rush Limbaugh's venture into possibly bidding on the St. Louis Rams franchise there's been polls asking if it would be right to ban Limbaugh from owning apart of an NFL team?

The argument was that the United States is a free market system based on the idea of capitalism. So, I figured it's time to actually go over what kind of market systems there are.

According to businessdicitionary.com the definition of an economic system is: An organized way in which a state or nation allocates its resources and apportions goods and services in the national community.

There are different types of economic systems. The United States a capitalistic point of view, which includes what has been being talked about in regards to Limbaugh purchasing the Rams a free market system.

Now let's actually take a look at what capitalism is. Merriam-Webster.com states that it's an economic system characterized by private or corporate ownership, by investments that are determined by private decision, and by prices, production, and distribution of goods that are determined mainly by competition in a free market.

The definitions for each type of economy can be found at economywatch.com

Capitalism is a form of a market economy which states that national and state government play a minor role and instead the consumers that drive the economy. 

Planned Economy: All major decisions related to the production, distribution, commodity, and service prices, are all made by the government.

Mixed Economy: Combines elements of both the planned and the market economies into one cohesive unit.

By the way even though the belief is that the United States is a capitalistic society, it's actually a mixed economy. 

The NFL as you can see clearly by definition is a planned economy. Meaning that the owners act as the government and make the decisions on the major issues such as if a team is being sold what bids to look at and accept.

In the end the owners have the power to approve the bid or reject it. If it is rejected it has nothing to do with the person's right to bid on the team. It just means that the NFL looked at the benefits and the risks of adding a name in this case like Limbaugh and realized it would not be beneficial for the NFL to bring him in.