Background
Communism as an economic model was tried in various parts of the world such as Russia and Eastern European countries, however it failed. Under communist economies the common people became even more impoverished than they were prior to communism. Communism is symbolized by state ownership and public enterprise. In essence, it is state capitalism. Capitalism is the economic model in vogue today in most countries of the world. The United States is the bastion of capitalism. In fact, many scholars and historians refer to it as the American Empire, which has replaced the British Empire of the 19th and 20th centuries. Capitalism is symbolized by individual ownership and private enterprise. We have today not merely capitalism but global capitalism, also referred to as globalization. In all these economic systems, i.e., communism, capitalism and global capitalism, the economic system is centralized with control being in the hands of a few persons. The question begs to be asked as to whether the common people have fared well in centralized economies, and whether they have been guaranteed an improved standard of living based on increasing purchasing capacity. According to economist Prabhat Sarkar, in a centralized economy exploitation cannot be eradicated nor can the poverty of the common people be removed. In the above economic paradigms, economic policies are formulated by a handful of men for the benefit of those men who are generally indifferent to the plight of the masses.
