Capitalism

Americans see capitalism as giving people more opportunity and more freedom than socialism, while they see socialism as more likely to meet people’s basic needs, though these perceptions differ significantly by party. Many Democrats say socialism meets people’s basic needs; Republicans say it restricts individual freedoms.

Pew Research Center’s political typology sorts Americans into cohesive, like-minded groups based on their values, beliefs, and views about politics and the political system. Use this tool to compare the groups on some key topics and their demographics.

Despite improvements in recent decades, the former East Germany trails the former West on several important economic measures.

For many, “socialism” is a word that evokes a weakened work ethic, stifled innovation and excessive reliance on the government. For others, it represents a fairer, more generous society.

Republicans express intensely negative views of “socialism” and very positive views of “capitalism.” Majorities of Democrats view both terms positively.

The U.S. has more foreign students enrolled in its colleges and universities than any other country in the world. Explore data about foreign students in the U.S. higher education system.

As robots, automation and artificial intelligence perform more tasks and there is massive disruption of jobs, experts say a wider array of education and skills-building programs will be created to meet new demands.

China’s incredible economic expansion has led the Chinese to be overwhelmingly happy with their economic situation and optimistic about their future, but there are underlying complaints about inflation, inequality and corruption.