Thinking about majoring in Economics but wonder what kind of careers are available?

Continuum of Economic Systems

Labeling and characterizing particular countries economic systems based on how they are organized to allocate societies scarce resources can be a tricky proposition.  People tend to insert their own biases in assessing the label.

Here is a simple presentation of the "facts".  We can debate/argue the specifics of where a particular country falls on the continuum (I inserted select countries on where I think they fall), but the over-arching considerations should be what I outlined in the textbook:

1.  The level of government ownership/control of societal resources.

2.  The level of regulation and taxation over economic activity within the country.

These are broad, for certain, but I believe serve as a jumping off point for discussion.

For instance, take the US.

The Private Sector holds a vast majority of overall societal resources, but not all.  National Parks are one significant "land" resource that I can think of that the Federal Government owns outright.  Is this "socialism" in the context of all societal resources combined?  I think not so that is why I put it closer to Free Market than Socialism. Does the US regulate/tax economic activity?  Yes, to some degree so we cannot give it the full label "Free Market". With this one you have to consider "relative to what/who?"

In this case I choose the UK. In the UK the healthcare system is owned/operated by the government and they have a higher level of taxation compared to the US (this is a generalized statement on my part).

After understanding where you fall on this line, the debate becomes which way is "best" for your country to move---towards Free Markets to the left or Socialism/Communism to the right.  This is political tension that is derived from the economics.