A Report on the Democratic

Peoples Republic of Korea

and the United States of
America
 The Authors
Student 1 and Student 2 have intensely studied both countries and have released this Compare
and Contrast Report. Both authors live in Singapore and attend the German European School in
Singapore. Originally, this report was intended to be a school project, however an Economist
reporter saw it and with their permission we decided to print it.

The Countries
The Democratic Peoples Republic of Korea
The Democratic Peoples Republic of
Korea or North Korea is one of the last
remaining countries to use the Communist
economic system. The country is situated in
East Asia and shares borders with Japan,
China and South Korea. The country
became Communist after the Korean War
(1950-1953) and has remained in near total
isolation for over 60 years. Only now is it
loosening its Iron Curtain and releasing
more and more information, most of which
is most likely falsified. The Supreme
Leader, Kim Jong Un, is the dictator of the
country and decides most of the economic
decisions with his ministers. The Capital of
Figure 1
Pyongyang is the largest city in North Korea.
North Korea also possesses a large army with The map above shows North Korea, the countries it borders and its
nuclear explosive devices. location in the world. (2016)

The United States of America

The United States of America is a Capitalist country
with a mixed economy. It is situated in North
America and consists of 50 states and shares borders
with Canada Mexico and various Caribbean countries.
The country was founded in 1776 and gained
independence from the British as a result. America
was the main opposer of the Soviet Union in the Cold
War. The President of the United States of America,
Barack Obama, only influences the economy
minimally, as it is based on a free market economy.
The U.S.A. own nuclear explosive devices and have
the largest military in the world. Additionally, they
have the highest GDP in the world and also are 18 Figure 2
trillion USD in debt. The above map shows the United States of America and
two of its border countries. (2016)
 Table of Contents
1. Introduction
1.1 Introduction to the Compare and Contrast Report

2. The D.P.R.K.
2.1 What Elements of a free market or command economy has the D.P.R.K. implemented?
2.2 A description of the economic system. How does the government deal with key economic
questions?
2.3 What are the key economic components of the North Korean Economy?
2.4 What happened during the economic crisis of 2008? How did North Korea respond to it?
2.5 What can be deduced from the information above?

3. The U.S.A.
3.1 What Elements of a free market or command economy has the U.S.A. implemented?
3.2 A description of the economic system. How does the government deal with key economic
questions?
3.3 What are the key economic components of the U.S. Economy?
3.4 What happened during the economic crisis of 2008? How did the United States of America
respond to it?
3.5 What can be deduced from the information above?

4. Comparing and Contrasting the two countries

4.1 Infrastructure and Government
4.2 Economy in Numbers
4.3 Economy in Production
4.4 What does the Future hold?
4.5 Which system is better? What are the Similarities and Differences?

5. Conclusion
5.1 Conclusion of Report

6. Works Cited
 1.1 Introduction to the Compare and Contrast Report
This report serves to bring clarity into the subject of Economy and how different countries
implement different economic strategies to target Gross Domestic Product growth. Economic
systems can strengthen connections and promote stability in human societies. However, this
cannot be said about the D.P.R.K. and the U.S.A, as they are economic and military rivals. The
cold war has split these two countries in becoming exact opposites of each other. The
Democratic Peoples Republic of Korea, one of the last Communist States, is also one of the few
countries that admit to wanting to attack the Capitalist United States of America. In this report,
Authors Jack Allen and Kilian Schwarz will examine both countries economically and analyze
their response to the 2008 economic crisis. Additionally, they will compare and contrast the two
countries in terms of their economies.

The Democratic Peoples Republic of Korea

By Student 1

2.1 What Elements of a free market or command economy has the D.P.R.K.
implemented?
The Democratic Peoples Republic of Korea or D.P.R.K. is one of the last communist countries
in the entire world and thus its economic system is heavily influenced by the old Soviet Union
and the Communist Manifesto by Karl Manifesto. North Korea is often known as an isolated,
authoritarian and totalitarian country. But what type of economy does it have? Does it have a
command economy or a mixed economy or even a free market economy? The answer is that
North Korea has a fully fledged Command economy with no elements of a free market economy.
This is because it is a communist country and that everybody gets the same level of food,
education and other living necessities. The government, under the control of the dictator Kim
Jong-un, decides what the country imports and exports and where the country is headed for the
future economically. The government decides most aspects of daily life of the North Korean
people. Everything that produces something for the state is owned by the government. The
D.P.R.K. has implemented an economic system that is severely bound to the command economy.
Additionally, it is focused on military power and on total obedience and discipline throughout
North Korea.

2.2 A description of the economic system. How does the government deal with key
economic questions?
The D.P.R.K. is a Communist state, which means that all economic questions are answered by
the government, as opposed to Capitalism, where the consumer decides what is produced. In
Communist states, the government dictates the production, import and export of everything the
country needs. Communism is an ideology that is supposed to make everybody equal. One major
flaw in this ideology is, that there is no bottom limit to this and that logically everybody could be
equally poor. This is what has happened in North Korea. In North Korea food is the main limited
supply, thus the country relies heavily on imports from China. Other, for us common objects, are
non-existent or banned by the North Korean government. Objects such as smartphones, personal
 computers, and jeans are all banned in North Korea. The government is unimaginably strict
about the possession or use of these items and will often send people into prison camps or death.
The North Korean government only imports the minimum requirements to keep the citizens alive.
The years of tight isolation have made it necessary for the North Korean government to trade
with its trade partners. On the other hand, the leaders of the D.P.R.K. spend most of their annual
expenditure (3.3 billion [2007]) on their military. This shows that North Korea does not care
about its citizens much and is focused more on military technology. According to some sources,
the government of North Korea uses this deprivation of necessities to oppress the population and
uses its military to secure the current regime.
Through additional information from the D.P.R.K., I have found out that the North Korean
government shows its power and superiority through its military. The website states that the
military empowers the government and is the pride of the state. Other countries warn about the
threat North Korea poses. An example is the Intelligence Chief of the United States of America,
James Clapper, that a North Korean Uranium enrichment plant is resuming production.
Additionally, he expressed: North Korea has been operating the reactor long enough so that it
could begin to recover plutonium from the reactor's spent fuel within a matter of weeks to
months. This has resulted in sanctions being raised against North Korea, which has had a large
effect on its economy.

2.3 What are the key economic components of the North Korean Economy?
North Korea, a state governed in isolation, has one of the smallest economies in the world. Its
official 2013 GDP is estimated by the CIA World
Factbook at about 28 billion. It reaches this GDP by
selling rare and common minerals and metals to
China, its main business partner. Some minerals
and metals that it exports are North Korea also
produces a large amount of military products and
machines for its military, which it wants to measure
with the military of the United States of America.
Even though the labour force of the D.P.R.K. has
an estimated labor force of 15.21 million, the
unemployment rate of North Korea is estimated at
an extremely large 25.6% according to 2013
statistics.

The North Korean GDP is, as mentioned before, at Figure 3

an estimated 28 billion USD. The growth rate of
North Korean GDP is at a steadily estimated 1% per The chart above shows the age distribution in North Korea.
year. However, North Korea suffers from a budget (2014)
deficit of -0.4% of its annual GDP. The GDP per
capita is estimated at around $1800 USD (2013). According to a July 2015 estimate, the current
population of North Korea is at around 25 million. North Korea has an international debt of
around 5 billion USD. An inflation rate has not been released by the North Korean government
or been estimated. North Koreas budget is estimated at around 3.2 billion, even though it spends
3.3 billion annually.
In the 1950s to the 1990s, North Korea had many trade partners, a great majority of which
Socialist or Communist states. This collection of trade partners delivered the majority of the
basic necessities of the citizens. With the fall of Communism, North Korea lost many valuable
trading partners. It now barely trades because it has remained in isolation and is still using
technologies from the 1980s. North Korea spends most of its budget on its military and has
developed nuclear weapons in recent years. The U.N. and the E.U. have repeatedly permitted
 sanctions against the D.P.R.K.. Western, capitalist countries such as the U.S.A. and Australia
have also sanctioned North Korea and only provide supplies to help the North Korean citizens in
critical situations. According to the most recent sources, North Korea imports 5.2 billion USD
worth of products, while it exports 4.4 billion USD worth self-produced objects. North Korea
exports around 5.9% and imports 11.1% of its produce.
Total equality. That is the motto of Communist states and North Korea achieves this in terms of
basic living necessities and education. 100% of the total population of over 15 years olds can
read and write, at the same time, 99% of rural and urban homes have a source of clean water.
According to official North Korean sources, every individual receives a monthly coupon booklet,
which this individual can use in exchange for living supplies. This is plausible, as this is very
similar to what communist Cuba did.
The North Korean government heavily subsidizes its military, which it hopes to increase. This
would result in many new jobs, related to the military. The government also invests large
amounts of the North Korean Won

Different information could not be found because of the strict policies of the North Korean
government that forbid any actual information to be leaked. Information such as equity of
income, % of population below the international poverty line, gross national saving and many
others could not be found. All of the above information are estimates from credible sources such
as the CIA world factbook and University resources.

2.4 What happened during the economic crisis of 2008? How did North Korea
respond to it?
In 2008, the North Korean
citizens suffered under a
horrendous famine, which was
largely caused by the 2008
economic crisis. To find out
why this happened, China,
North Koreas largest trade
partner, must be examined in
more detail. Following the 2008
economic crash, many countries
suffered including China. As an
example China lost 4% of its
GDP growth rate from 2007 to
Figure 4
2008, this caused many of the
Chinese markets to shrink. This graph shows the GDP per quarter in North Korea. Observe the drop in the late
Because China was struggling 2008/early 2009 quarters. (2015)
itself, it could not aid North
Korea and continuously provide resources and food. This caused a wide-spread famine and
caused up to an estimated 3.2 million deaths since the 1990s when the famines first began.

Before the economic crash of 2008, North Korea was in a relatively stable position and the
citizens of the D.P.R.K. were not living in famine, however, the economic crash influenced
China and ultimately caused a new famine to start. North Korea could do little to counter or
evade the economic crisis because of its insignificant world influence. A very active black
market grew out of the famine. Illegal items, smuggled in from neighbouring countries were sold
to the local population. However, the North Korean government used extensive measures to
counter the black market. Because the government did not and could not help the people, the
famine raised a lot of international awareness and many countries such as South Korea and the
U.S.A. sent care packages to North Korea to aid the population, however most specialists believe
that only a few care packages reached the starving citizens, the government is believed to have
confiscated most of them. In terms of its GDP, North Korea suffered a loss of up to -2.25% over
3 quarters. This alone makes a lot of impact on the economy, but it must be kept in mind, that
before the 2008 economic crash, North Korea only had an annual GDP growth rate of 1% per
year. As a result, North Korea slightly loosened its isolation and now lets more and more people
into the country, which was characterized by tight isolation for decades.
At the end of 2009, the North Korean Won significantly started to suffer under inflation. North
Korea rapidly carried out a redenomination of its currency. This means that it capped the amount
of the old North Korean currency that could be exchanged for the new notes. Basically, North
Korea changed its currency to stop the inflation and avoid a possible hyperinflation.

2.5 What can be deduced from the information above?

North Korea is led by a Communist government which means that there is ideally total equality.
There is large equality in terms of the populations living and education standards. The high
levels of education result in an overall smarter population; this has a positive effect on the GDP
and the educated society in North Korea. With larger amounts of educated people, intellectually
higher demanding jobs can be filled and thus the GDP increases.
The fact that nearly all of the population has access to clean water and probably has access to the
same amounts of food is evidence, that a well-structured and strong infrastructure has been
implemented. A good infrastructure is important because, without it, a country would not be
organized and could not operate at maximum capacity or efficiency. Because this is not the case,
North Korea is quite efficient on the production capability graph.
In North Korea, the Peoples Party is the ruling government and decides on everything the
country produces. Implementing this has positive and negative effects. On the one hand, the
party can make decisions, which it believes to be best for the greater good, after all, humans do
not always make the right decisions. On the other hand, the party can abuse its power and act for
its own benefit. The current party in North Korea is abusing its power and oppressing the people.
The fact that North Korea has been isolated from the modern, changing outside world for almost
30 years, has had an effect on its technology and society. A lot of the countrys electrical and
mechanical technology is outdated and was used by other countries in the 1970s. It is clear that
these machines are not as efficient as modern ones, thus having an effect on the countrys GDP
and efficiency. The propaganda, which the government implements, has made the majority of the
people very nationalistic and patriotic. This nationalism can be compared to that of the 1930s
and 1960s in Germany and the Soviet Union respectively.
 The United States of America
By Student 2

3.1 What Elements of a free market or command economy has the U.S.A.
implemented?
A free market economy is a market in which vendors and consumers set goods and services for
free. Free laws and forces of supply and demand from the governments intervention and the
authority and monopoly price-setting.
A command economy is an economy where the government determines things and they get
involved with the productivity, investment, incomes and prices within the country.
The USA has a mixed economy. It is a mixed economy because the USA has businesses which
are private and also the government is playing in two important roles. One important role is the
Fiscal policy. Fiscal policy is when the government uses their own money and money collecting
method to create an influence on the economy. The second role is the monetary policy which is
when aggregate supplies are brought in by the government to make more influence on the
economy.
If the market falls by too much (7%), the government stops all trade and waits for a few days
while it tries to restart the economy. Banks also get a lot of money when there is an economic
crash because banks are a way to restart the economy of a country.

3.2 A description of the economic system. How does the government deal with key
economic questions?
US is a free market but the government still intervenes with the system. They government has to
intervene to keep up the pace with everything because if they dont something could go wrong
and the market would have to make a lot of changes. The government usually intervenes with the
market when they are allocating resources
inefficiently. When they intervene they stop
the market flow and stop all trading.
The US provides food and supplies by
importing and exporting goods and products
with many countries, the trade mostly with
Canada, China, Mexico and Japan, but they
trade with a lot more places than this.

3.3 What are the key economic

components of the U.S. Economy?
America has a very high GDP, the highest
in the world 17.419 trillion dollars. They also Figure 5
have the highest inequality over western
The above photo shows the nations, to which the U.S.A. trades to
and what monetary value the trade is worth. (2011)
 countries. Americas key industries are Technology (Very spread throughout America and the
world), Pharmaceuticals, Medical care, aerospace, and finally the military (Guns, planes, tanks
equipment in general. America is a big place so it needs lots of oils to be distributed between
every state. Almost 56% are imported to America. Export products are mostly consisting of
pharmaceutical products, to help people all around the world and inside of America. Americas
high technology has also been shared with the other places on earth. America trades with many
countries, America trades mostly with Canada, China, Mexico and Japan, these are the main
places America trades with. Iran, Syria and Lebanon have forbidden America from trading with
them. Most reasons are due to terrorism, human rights disagreements and other various reasons.
Americas GDP growth rate is around 2.6% in 2015. GDP per capita in the US is $56,300 in
2015. Employment rates in the US are around 5.2% in 2015. Inflation is the US is around 0.2%
in 2015 which is pretty low for the US.

3.4 What happened during the economic crisis of 2008? How did the United States
of America respond to it?
GDP in the USA was contracted further until 2009 just after the economic crisis. This was the
longest downturn since the great depression. The cause for the 2008 economic crisis was in the
U.S.A. itself. Because the U.S. imported 55% of the oil it needed, the economy was majorly
affected. The 2008 economic crisis was a build-up of different events such as the doubling of
crude oil prices between 2001 and 2006. Additionally, the home prices were at their peak,
therefore the higher gasoline prises negatively affected consumers' budgets and many of these
consumers fell behind their mortgage payments. Between 2006 and 2008 the oil prices increased
by 50% and banks, that owned the properties, started to foreclose them. In addition to the above,
in 2008 falling home prices, low credits, investment bank flops and the international economic
downturn pushed America into a recession. Not only America has affected, but many other 1st
world countries were affected too. The US congress, which relies on banks, established a
Troubled Asset Relief Programme worth 700 billion USD in the October of 2008. Most of this
Troubled Asset Relief Programme (TARP) was returned by 2011. Following the events of 2008,
the US Congress and the president Barack Obama passed a fiscal stimulus that was worth an
additional $787. This was to be used over 10 years. It was intended to create more jobs for the
recessed economy and this was achieved. In the years following the 2008 economic crisis the
United States reached a budget deficit of an estimated 9% of the GDP at that time. Gradually, the
Deficit shrank to 7.9% of the GDP.

3.5 What can be deduced from the information above?

Because the U.S.A. uses a capitalistic economic system, a lot of people were able to become very
rich. People like Warren Buffet of Bill Gates are some of the richest people in the world and own
a large percentage of the entire worlds money. Because The U.S.A. has a Capitalist economy, it
has a very large GDP and is therefore a world power. However, the United States also spent a lot
of money and is now in a huge amount of debt, which they cannot get out of. It shows that
Capitalism only works if the countries use their money widely.
 Comparing and Contrasting

4.1 Infrastructure and Government

Infrastructure is the organization of a country and how well it provides basic needs to the people.
Things such as a clean water supply, paved roads and enough nutrition play a large part in this.
America provides clean water to 98-99% of its population while North Korea provides clean
water to a slightly higher 99% of the population. In terms of odd, North Korea assigns equal
amounts of food to their population, while in the United States of America, the consumers
choose what they want to eat. However, there is very little equality because the consumers
selection is limited to what they can buy and to how much money they have. In North Korea,
every individual gets the same amount of food, electricity and water, no matter how rich or poor
this individual might be. In capitalist countries with little social implementations, poor and
homeless people are not cared after and often have nothing got eat. All this relates to economy
because it affects one of the major economic factors needed to create a sustainably economy:
Labour. In America 97.9% of the population are literate, while in North Korea around 99.9% of
the total population is literate (100% is nearly impossible because not everybody has the
cognitive ability to go through schooling).
The United States of America has a Democratic government that lies on three different branches
of the government: The Legislative, Judicial and Executive branch. These branches control each
other and stop anybody or any party to become too powerful. Because it is a democratic country,
the entire adult population is allowed to vote for their choice of government and their
presidential candidate. This is a high level of equality compared to the one-party dictatorship that
North Korea follows. The Democratic Peoples Republic of Korea is not technically democratic,
however, the current party bans any other parties to be created. This is a reason why the Kim
family has been in power for over 60 years. Currently, Kim Jong Un is the so called Supreme
Leader of North Korea and has total control over the economy and the decisions that must be
made.

4.2 Economy in Numbers

The economy of the U.S.A. is the largest in the world,
with a GDP of 17.97 trillion USD is massively larger
than North Koreas GDP of 40 billion. Because the
United States are a world power, they have a large,
growing and stable economy at an average GDP
growth rate of 1% annually. This number is identical
to that of the North Korean GDP growth rate, which is
also at 1%. The citizens of the D.P.R.K. have an
annual GDP per capita of $1800 USD. This is around
3% of the American GDP per capita ($56 300 USD).
The D.P.R.K. has a total labour force of around 14
million people which is around 58% of their total
population. Compared to America, it is high, as Figure 6
America has a labour force of 156.3 million people
The photograph above shows the Monument to Party
which is only around 48% of the population. The GDP Founding which is located in Pyongyang, North Korea.
growth rate of North Korea is at a good 1%, while the (2013)
GDP growth rate of the United States is at an even
better 2.7%. In terms of wealth distribution equity, both countries are quite unequal: North Korea
has an estimated gini coefficient of up to 0.86, while the U.S.A. has an estimated gini coefficient
 of 0.81. It shows that both Capitalism and Communism do not stop the rich from becoming
richer or achieve equality.

4.3 Economy in Production

North Korea used to have many military allies and countries that it traded with. This was during
the 1950s-1990s. With the fall of the Soviet Union and Communism, North Korea lost nearly
all of its trade partners. Unlike the U.S.A. it only used to have trade agreements with specific
Communist countries. As a result of the fall of the Soviet Union, North Korea lost the majority
of its trade partners. Because of this, it has entered a state of total isolation and has very outdated
technology. The U.S.A. has maintained their position as a world power and trade with many
countries such as Germany, Japan and China. The United States can do this because they
produce exorbitant amounts of products and sell these products to overseas countries. This can
be observed by their GDP, which is the highest in the world at 17.77 trillion USD. The United
States are the second-largest industrial output in the world; producing petroleum, steel, aircraft,
spacecraft, modern technology, chemicals and consumer goods. On the lower end of the
spectrum, North Korea earns most of its GDP by selling ores and minerals such as Zinc ore, Iron
ore and Lead ore, but North Korea also subsidizes its military and agricultural branch of
production. The U.S.A. subsidizes key production areas such as its military, agriculture and
electronics, which are some of the most successful exports of the U.S.A.
The unemployment rate in North Korea is unfathomably high at 25.6% which is around 6.4
million individuals. In America, the unemployment rate may only be at 5.2%, however, more
than 16.6 million people are affected. North Korea has subsidized its military branch of
production in order to protect from the invading western forces (official Government portal of
the D.P.R.K., the Naenara). North Korea has also subsidized agriculture in order to combat the
famines that have endangered and taken the lives of millions of people. The U.S.A. on the other
hand have subsidized their military to make it even larger than it already is and have increased
subsidies on their agriculture to feed the 321.3 million people that live in the United States.

4.4 What does the Future hold?

North Korea is sitting on unstable grounds. It actively expresses its hatred towards capitalist
countries such as America and threatens them. This has made international relations deteriorate
so much that even China, its largest trading partner, only trades with North Korea reluctantly. In
North Korea people are not cared for and often suffer under malnutrition. The current
government abuses the Communist system in order to maximize their personal gains. Currently,
the government has full control of North Korea, however, there is a possibility that this will
change. The North Korean people have been living in oppression for decades, they might try to
overthrow the North Korean government, however, these people do not have the possibilities to
organize themselves against the trained military. A more viable possibility is that the economy of
the D.P.R.K. will continue to degrade up until the point when it collapses. This could happen in a
few years or even decades. What will happen then is uncertain, but it could lead to the collapse
of the D.PR.K.
The United States of America is a world power. It is very improbable that its economy will crash.
However, there are some circumstances in which the U.S.A.s economy could crash. One, very
likely, possibility is that the U.S.A. will produce less and less, until it cannot sustain its economy.
The reason for this is the outsourcing of manufacturing of products. Many products that could be
produced in the United States are outsourced to countries like China that benefit from it. In the
case that the U.S.A. manufactures less and less, the government will have less and less to spend
with its budget. The military, the biggest budget eater, will still have to be maintained. The result
 of this will most likely be inflation, due to the American government printing more and more
money. Other countries, which the U.S.A. trades with, will demand physical pay such as Gold as
opposed to the USD which is only a piece of paper. Currently, the USD is accepted because
every country accepts it as a form of physical wealth. This will definitely change, as more and
more countries will realize that the United States cannot pay back their debt, even if they wanted
to. The United States have an unfathomable 18 trillion USD of debt; there is no possible way to
regain that amount of money without printing more.

4.5 Which system is better? What are the Similarities and Differences?
There are very few similarities and differences
between Capitalist and Communist governments
and there are even less between North Korea and
the U.S.A. A similarity of the two countries is that
both have subsidized their agriculture and military.
Both nations are trying to innovate the military
market by pouring million and even billion of
USD into this sector. Both countries are trying to
produce food in order to supply the population that
lives within its borders. The most common trait of
nearly all governments is that they strive for
power; land resources and people. This trait
connects nearly all forms of governments.
Additionally, both political systems are theories Figure 7
based on industrial economies.
Depicted above is a picture of Wall Street in New York. It is the
Some of the main differences of the two political largest economic stock trade centre, but also is a hotspot for
systems are that Communism tries to care for the Bureaucratic corruption. (2014)
people socially, whereas Capitalism is based on the
survival of the fittest. Capitalist and Communist economic systems have such high amounts of
differences, that it is necessary for me to list them one by one. Firstly, Communism follows a
totalitarian government while the Capitalist system follows a political system of democracy. All
of the land is state owned in Communism, as are many other things. Capitalism however, is
based on the human want instinct and greed which allow private ownership. When not abused,
all of the wealth a country produces is split equally throughout the population. In Capitalism
everybody must produce for themselves and there is little social help or equality. There is a
hierarchy in Capitalist societies; this is the opposite of Communist societies, where everybody is
considered to be equal.
Different countries require different political systems. This is a fact, but another fact is that
almost every Communist state has collapsed in the recent decades. This however is not a fair
example because both economic systems need countries with large industries to work well. This
was never the case in any Communist country ever. Most countries in which the Communist
party took over were agricultural countries. It is needless to say that in the roots, Communism is
a good political system. It allows an escape from a totalitarian society and brings large amounts
of social equality to the country. However, it often happens that the leader of the country forgets
the original idea and exploits and oppresses the common people in order to collect the riches.
Capitalism is not very different from the failure of Communism. Only the widespread use of it
saves it from collapse. Capitalism is also a very good idea. It allows the competent and smart
people to rise higher and higher and become richer and richer as a reward. This also is abused by
many corrupt people that exploit the middle and the low class workers. Many of the superrich
such as the Rothschilds and Rockefellers have gained so much money through banks. These
banks often take money from the low class and sometimes even from the middleclass and
continue to allow the rich to become richer. A superrich family such as the Gates family has a
 total estimated net worth of 79.2 billion USD. This is not at all fair to all of the other people of
the world. In conclusion our judgment is that Capitalism mixed with Socialism is the best
political system, because it helps the poor to a certain degree but also rewards hard work with
more money.

5.1 Conclusion of the Report

In conclusion, it is clear that neither Communism, nor Capitalism truly achieves total equality
because both systems rely or are abused because of the natural human greed. North Korea is now
an economically weak country that does not care about its population and has one goal: Military
superiority over Western countries. America has very little social policies in place and some
people live on the streets and often do not earn enough to buy themselves enough food. It is clear
that both economic and political systems have their positive and negative sides. Communism is
based on social well-being, while Capitalism allows a single person to become unfathomably
rich. It must be noted that a lot of the information exhibited above are estimates. The majority of
the North Korean information are estimates because its government does not release accurate or
any information. This is why estimates from experts have been used to find the predicted
information. We hope that this report has given you insight into the current economic status of
the two countries that were analyzed in this report.
 Works Cited

Text sources
Cullinane, Susannah. "How Does North Korea Make Its Money." CNN. N.p., 10 Apr. 2013. Web.
4 Feb. 2016. <http://edition.cnn.com/2013/04/09/business/north-korea-economy-explainer/>.

N.A. "UN Security Council Approves Strictest Sanctions on North Korea in Decades." The
Guardian. N.p., 2 Mar. 2016. Web. 26 Feb. 2016.
<http://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/mar/02/un-security-council-adopts-sanctions-on-
north-korea>.

N.A. "Korea, North." The World Factbook. Central Intelligence Agency, n.d. Web. 31 Jan. 2016.
<https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/kn.html>.

N.A. "Economyand Foreign Trade." Naenara. D.P.R.K., 2016. Web. 28 Feb. 2016.
<http://www.naenara.com.kp/en/trade/>.

N.A. "U.S. Intel Chief Offers Warning about N. Korea Nuclear Threat." CBSNEWS. N.p., 9 Feb.
2016. Web. 20 Jan. 2016. <http://www.cbsnews.com/news/intelligence-chief-speaks-to-north-
korean-isis-cyber-threats>.

N.A. "United States." Central Intelligence Agency. Central Intelligence Agency, 2016. Web. 21
Feb. 2016. <https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/us.html>.

N.A. "Differences between Capitalism & Communism and Why Did It Start in Russia?"
Anonymous. N.p., 2015. Web. 16 Feb. 2016. <http://www.sahistory.org.za/article/capitalism-vs-
communism-and-russian-revolution-grade-11>.

N.A. "The Origins of the Financial Crisis." The Economist. N.p., 7 Sept. 2013. Web. 20 Feb.
2016. <http://www.economist.com/news/schoolsbrief/21584534-effects-financial-crisis-are-still-
being-felt-five-years-article>.
 Picture sources
Figure 1: Scholastic. "North Korea." GROLIER ONLINE ATLAS. Scholastic, 2016. Web. 01 Mar.
2016. <http://go.grolier.com/atlas?id=mgas030>.

Figure 2: N.A. "Map: United States." Infoplease. Infoplease, 2016. Web. 01 Mar. 2016.
<http://www.infoplease.com/atlas/unitedstates.html>.

Figure 3: CIA. "Korea, North." Central Intelligence Agency. Central Intelligence Agency, 2016.
Web. 29 Feb. 2016. <https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/kn.html>.

Figure 4: N.A. "N.T." North Korean GDP Growth Rate, 1971-2011. N.p., n.d. Web. 25 Feb.
2016. <https://www.google.com.sg/search?q=North+Korea+GDP+Growth+Rate,+1971-
2011&safe=strict&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjr9qrh7f3KAhXLno4KHcze
C3wQ_AUIBygB&biw=1366&bih=607#safe=strict&tbm=isch&q=North+Korea+GDP+Growth
+Rate+1971-2011>.

Figure 5: CIA. "United States of America." Central Intelligence Agency. Central Intelligence
Agency, 2016. Web. 12 Feb. 2016. <https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-
factbook/geos/us.html>.

Figure 6: N.A. "The Monuments of North Korea." ~ Kuriositas. N.p., 11 Dec. 2011. Web. 13
Feb. 2016. <http://www.kuriositas.com/2013/12/the-monuments-of-north-korea.html>.

Figure 7: Joyce. "The Wolf of Wall Street Guide." FluentU. N.p., 2016. Web. 24 Feb. 2016.
<http://www.fluentu.com/english/business/blog/business-english-finance/>.

Country Specific Maps and Flags:

North America: NASA. "Google Earth (North America)." Google Earth. N.p.: Google, n.d. N.
pag. Print.

North American Flag: N.A. "American Flag Clipart." Webweaver's Free Clipart. N.p., 2016.
Web. 01 Mar. 2016. <http://www.webweaver.nu/clipart/usa-flags.shtml>.

North Korea: NASA. "Google Earth (North Korea)." Google Earth. N.p.: Google, n.d. N. pag.
Print.

North Korean Flag: N.A. "Flag of North Korea." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, 10 Jan.
2016. Web. 01 Mar. 2016. <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flag_of_North_Korea>.