Think of a business firm you recently visited (such as Walmart, Home Depot, Red Lobster, Barnes & Noble, McDonald’s, etc.). What motivated the producers of all the individual products in the store to make them and offer them for sale? How did the producers decide on the best combinations of resources to use? Who made those resources available, and why? How does the market determine who will get the goods and services? Who decides whether these particular products should continue to be produced and offered for sale? How do these decisions differ between capitalist and socialist systems?
