Market, Command, or Mixed Economy?

Today I will explain the differences between a free market economy, a command economy, and a mixed economy.
A Market economy (also called a free market economy) is an economic system in which the production and distribution of goods and services takes place through the mechanism of free markets guided by a free price system.
On the other hand, a Command economy is an economic system in which the state or government controls the factors of production and makes all decisions about their use and about the distribution of income.
There is another type of economy, known as Mixed economy. Mixed Economy is combination of free market and command economy.

In a free market economy individuals and firms make all the decisions on what to produce, and in what quantity, entirely in their own interest in order to produce maximum profits. Choosing what to produce comes mainly down to demand. The higher the demand for a certain product the high the price of that good can be pushed. This aids fast thinking, intelligent individuals as the faster the decision to produce a higher quantity of the good is made, the higher the profit margins can be. Examples of a free market, or as close to it as you can get, are Hong Kong and Singapore. 

In a Command system decision making is controlled completely by the government. It allocates how all the resources are utilised and turned into outputs, and does so in a socially desirable manner. This requires a careful balancing between output goals and available resources. Resources are al1ocated through a planning process. At its most extreme, this means that the state will direct labor into jobs as well as directing consumers what to consume, although it is more likely that they will direct producers what to produce, therefore determining the choice of goods available to consumers. An example of a command economy was the USSR when under the control of Stain.

In reality and the modern world there are actually no free markets, or command economies, only mixed economies. However, the level of how much of a mixed economy a state employs does vary significantly. 

US Government sell AIG shares profitably

The US government has said it has made a profit of $15.1bn (£9.4bn) so far on its bailout of insurer AIG, after selling firm stocks this week. This follows on from the government bailing out the insurer at the height of the financial crisis with $182bn. The US government will own about 16% of the company.

 
The government sold 553.8 million shares at $32.50 each on Monday. The Treasury have now said the banks that have been buying the shares off the them had put forward an option, allowing them to buy a further 83.1 million additional shares from the government. This would then take the total proceeds from this week's sale to $20.7bn from $18bn.

It previously said that the "Treasury and the Federal Reserve's combined $182bn commitment made to stabilise AIG during the financial crisis is now fully recovered". "Future sales of [the] Treasury's remaining AIG common stock holdings will provide an additional return to taxpayers," the Treasury said. This is the latest in a series of share sales by the government, designed to return taxpayers' money. The last sale, in August, raised more than $5bn.

The insurer, once the world's largest, has returned to profitability, reporting a second-quarter profit of $2.3bn; 27% more than a year earlier and much higher than expected.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-19554441

A long-term decline in the number of permanent jobs in Britain is easing, suggests a new study by KPMG. This comes as more good news after temporary jobs have been on the increase for the first time since last Christmas. These possible first few signs of recovery could been seen as the employer regaining some of his previously lost confidence, in the economy, for many months. However, his could also be seen as a minor blip in the record books by the more pessimistic of us.

This has been my first post; Peter Holdway.