The book also includes more first hand statistical and economic data and is as up to date as possible. There is more reliance on economic analyses to compare countries and economic system. To facilitate comparison, the book includes separate chapters on the economies of important industrial countries both market and centrally planned. These countries cannot be rigidly classified by ideology.
The book is divided into six sections. Part 1 explains the difference between capitalism, socialism, and communism. A frame of reference for comparing the market and centrally palnned economies of today is also provided. Part 2 discusses the economy of the United States, taking into consideration the relationship between the government and the market mechanism. Part 3 present the mixed economic systems of three highly developed industrial democraties: France, Japan, and the United Kingdom. Part 4 pertains to the centrally planned economies. Part 5 covers the less developed contries. Part 6 summarizes the performance of the market and centrally palnned economies in the 1980s.