There are three topics I want to cover in this paper. They are, 1) Which economic system is best suited for handling a crisis of epic proportions. 2) Describe and explain why a socialist system might be the best in responding to the needs of people struck by an emergency situation like the earthquake that occurred in Haiti in Jan. 2010. And 3) Use the laws of supply and demand to explain why the cost to heat our homes and businesses goes up in winter time.

So let’s begin with the first question, which economic system is best suited for handling a crisis of epic proportions. During the course of my research I looked over all the different economic types and came to the conclusion that a socialistic economy would be best suited for handling a crisis, at least in theory. In a socialistic economy all resources and productions are controlled by the government, but are believed to be the property of all the people equally. So, when a disaster of epic proportions occurs, the government would be able to respond in a minimum period of time to begin relief efforts, and to begin the rebuilding process, since everything they would be sending to the disaster area would, in effect, be owned by the people who were devastated by the disaster. And since the government controls what is produced and when it is produced, they could order the manufacturing companies to produce what was needed to rebuild the affected area, and coordinate to have those materials, not to mention food, and workers to perform the work, to the area and have it rebuilt in a short amount of time.

The second point, why would a socialist economy be the best to responding to the needs of people struck by an emergency situation like the earthquake that occurred in Haiti in Jan. 2010, can be built upon the first point I talked about. When the earthquake hit it caused a lot of damage to the affected area and disrupted the flow of basic necessities such as food, water, shelter, and power. In such a situation a socialist economy, in which the government controls the resources of the country, the government would be able to respond in record time, compared to a capitalistic economy and Hurricane Sandy in Louisiana. Since the resources are, in theory, held in trust by the government for the people, the resources already belong to the people affected by the earthquake, so the government would simply be sending the people’s resources to them in a time of need. Emergency assistance, such as drinking water, temporary shelter, and food supplies, could be coordinated and on site within a matter of hours. Removal of debris and unsafe buildings could begin within a day of the event, and rebuilding could start within weeks. Under a socialistic economy the affected area could be, again in theory, rebuilt within months and the people returned to their homes and back to their lives and jobs.

The final point, explain why the cost to heat our homes and businesses goes up in the winter time, is a question of simple supply and demand.