command economy

noun

: an economic system in which activity is controlled by a central authority and the means of production are publicly owned

Examples of command economy in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web As the security services played whack-a-mole with new activist movements, the economic stress of the 1980s overwhelmed the GDR’s command economy. Samuel Clowes Huneke, The New Republic, 22 Sep. 2023 Deng concluded that China needed more of a market economy than the strictly hierarchical, top-down command economy established by Mao Zedong. Win McCormack, The New Republic, 10 Aug. 2023 After the crisis, Deng sidelined the conservatives, led by Premier Li Peng, who wanted to maintain a command economy. Andrew J. Nathan, Foreign Affairs, 18 Apr. 2023 The old Russian command economy had no choice but to adapt to free market forces, and its workers and consumers were beginning to respond. John Kleinheinz, Fortune, 31 May 2023 Second was a large commitment to guns over butter in a command economy geared toward the production of military power: the percentage of GDP that Moscow devoted to defense remained in the double digits throughout the Cold War, an unprecedented share for a modern great power in peacetime. Stephen G. Brooks, Foreign Affairs, 18 Apr. 2023 But was there any other way to develop the economy, except for moving from state ownership to private ownership and from a command economy to a market economy? Kostiantyn Khudov, Washington Post, 8 Dec. 2022 The region was riven with power struggles and violence as the country lurched from a collapsing Soviet command economy to something completely new. Kostiantyn Khudov, Washington Post, 8 Dec. 2022 For two decades beginning in the 1980s, the Chinese leadership ostensibly shifted the country from an austere command economy to a unique blend of market and state control that is often credited with the country’s ascendance to relative prosperity. Frank Dikotter, WSJ, 17 Nov. 2022

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'command economy.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

First Known Use

1942, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of command economy was in 1942

Dictionary Entries Near command economy

Cite this Entry

“Command economy.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/command%20economy. Accessed 19 Mar. 2024.

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