Comparison of Economic Ideologies

<table> <thead> <tr> <th>Aspect</th> <th>Capitalism</th> <th>Socialism</th> <th>Communism (Marx)</th> </tr> </thead> <tbody> <tr> <td>Ownership of means of production</td> <td>Private</td> <td>Mixed or community-owned</td> <td>Collective (workers/state)</td> </tr> <tr> <td>Role of government</td> <td>Minimal (laissez-faire)</td> <td>Active in welfare and regulation</td> <td>Initially total, eventually withers away</td> </tr> <tr> <td>Decisions about production</td> <td>Markets, prices, profit</td> <td>Mix of market and planning</td> <td>Central planning by workers' state</td> </tr> <tr> <td>View of class</td> <td>Inequality is natural; mobility is possible</td> <td>Inequality is excessive; should be reduced</td> <td>Class is the central evil; must be abolished</td> </tr> <tr> <td>Means of change</td> <td>Markets and individual initiative</td> <td>Gradual reform and democracy</td> <td>Revolutionary overthrow</td> </tr> <tr> <td>Major thinker</td> <td>Adam Smith</td> <td>Robert Owen, Eugene Debs</td> <td>Karl Marx</td> </tr> </tbody> </table>