Gallup has been measuring Americans’ opinions of various economic systems or aspects of the economy since 2010. Surveys are conducted over landlines or cellphones with at least 1000 U.S. adults aged 18 and older living in all 50 states and the District of Columbia. Interviews are conducted in Spanish for respondents who are primarily Spanish-speaking. The latest survey was conducted in August of this year.
In these surveys, respondents are asked, “Just off the top of your head, would you say you have a positive or negative image of each of the following?” Their views are then solicited on capitalism, free enterprise, socialism, big business and small business. Each post in this series will focus on a subset of the 2025 survey responses.
Last time I compared responses to capitalism and socialism. This post will compare responses to capitalism and free enterprise. Here’s a summary of those responses, by self-reported party identity:
Definitions
Free enterprise is an economic system in which private business operates in competition and largely free of state control. Google Dictionary
Free enterprise is an economic system in which prices, products, and services are determined by market forces rather than government intervention. In such a system, businesses operate independently with minimal regulatory control. Key features include private property rights and voluntary exchanges. Investopedia
Capitalism is an economic system in which a country's trade and industry are controlled by private owners for profit. Google Dictionary
Capitalism is the creation of wealth and the ownership of capital, production, and distribution by individuals. Investopedia
Capitalism is founded on the following pillars: private property… self-interest… competition… a market mechanism… freedom to choose with respect to consumption, production and investment…[and] limited role of government. International Monetary Fund
Profit is the amount of income that remains after accounting for all expenses, debts, additional income streams, and operating costs. No business can survive for a significant amount of time without making a profit (Investopedia).
The private sector is the segment of the economy owned and operated by individuals and companies for profit, distinct from government-controlled entities (Investopedia).
A Few Random Comments
Per Gallup 2025, a large majority of Americans like free enterprise - that is, economic systems in which “private business operates in competition and largely free of state control” (Google Dictionary) and “prices, products, and services are determined by market forces rather than government intervention” (Investopedia).
But while independents and Democrats embrace free enterprise, they’re rather critical of capitalism. To them I ask:
What’s wrong with capitalism that isn’t also wrong with free enterprise?
What’s right about free enterprise that’s lacking in capitalism?
After all, the pillars of capitalism are the same as the pillars of fee enterprise: private property, self-interest, competition, a market mechanism, freedom to choose with respect to consumption, production and investment, and limited role of government.
And what’s wrong with the profit motive? Businesses in a free enterprise system pursue profit, ditto in capitalist systems.
Or is anti-capitalism less about definitions and more about associations and assumptions, eg, capitalism = big business, capitalism = evil corporations, capitalism = obscenely rich men; capitalism = a zero-sum game where the rich win and everyone else loses.
Perhaps ‘free enterprise” evokes a win-win vision where the bonds of small-business commerce strengthen the bonds of community, where everyone knows the local butcher and they all go to the same church.