What is the economic system in the United States?

Answers from the USCIS list

Give one of these answers.

• capitalist economy
• market economy

Our explanation

An “economy” is how a country makes, buys, and sells things. The U.S. has a capitalist, or market, economy. The government does not control it, and people are free to start businesses.

Remember it

Capitalist or market economy: picture a busy market where people freely buy, sell, and start businesses.

Source

USCIS 2025 Study Guide (One Nation, One People, M-1175) p. 63: “In a market economy, the government does not control the economy. Also, people are free to start a business and make money.”

• Civics (History and Government) Questions for the Naturalization Test (2008 version), rev. 08/21 (PDF, USCIS)

Last checked on September 29, 2026.

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