1. Economic Geography Economic Systems
All economic systems must make three basic economic decisions: what goods and services should be produced, how they should be produced, and who gets the goods and services that are produced.
The U.S. economy is a mixed economy in which the government supports and regulates the free market.
There are three types of economies: traditional economy: habit and custom determine economic rules; market economy: individuals and private groups decide what to produce; and command economy: the government owns or directs the means of production.

2. Economic Geography Economic Development
Geographers and economists classify economic activities into four types.
Primary economic activities involve taking or using natural resources directly from Earth.
Secondary economic activities use raw materials to make a product that is new and more valuable.
Tertiary economic activities provide services to people and businesses.
Quaternary economic activities process, manage, and distribute information.

3. Economic Geography Economies and World Trade
World trade is the exchange of capital, labor, goods, and services between countries.
Countries export their specialized products, trading them to other countries that cannot produce those goods.
International trade is typically more costly than domestic trade due to tariffs, time costs, and expenses associated with different languages, legal systems, or other cultural barriers.