the oldest economic system and is used in parts of Asia, Africa, and South America. Traditional economies

organize their economic affairs the way they have always done (i.e., tradition). Occupations stay in the family.

Most families are farmers who grow the crops using traditional methods. What you produce is what you

consume. Because tradition drives the way of life, there is little economic progress or development.

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1.4 • How To Organize Economies: An Overview of Economic Systems 19

FIGURE 1.8 A Command Economy Ancient Egypt was an example of a command economy. (Credit: "Pyramids at

Giza" by Jay Bergesen/Flickr Creative Commons, CC BY 2.0)

Command economies are very different. In a command economy, economic effort is devoted to goals passed

down from a ruler or ruling class. Ancient Egypt was a good example: a large part of economic life was devoted
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