Mixed economy

There are several ways in which the state can be involved in the economic life of the country:
For many years in some countries the state has intervened to provide certain commodities which cannot be provided by the market forces of supply and demand. It is a fact that there have been private armies, private police and fire services and even courts of law but the undesirability of such services privately owned and controlled is so obvious as not to merit further discussion. Consequently even in the heyday of laissez-faire such services were provided and administered by the State.
The State can be involved in a regulatory capacity or in the legislative manner to cover the deficiencies in the system. In Britain the medieval Assizes of Bread and Ale were rudimentary beginnings in the field of quality control as were the standards established in the woolen industry. The Elizabethan Poor Laws were the real beginnings of the state intervening in the provision of services for those not able to provide adequately for themselves. In more recent times the state has tried to bring about a more equitable distribution of wealth through the systems of taxation, subsidies and state pensions and allowances. Similarly it has by legislation attempted to curb the excess of monopoly power.
Through the measures outlined in (1) and (2) the state helps to produce a mixed economy by providing public services alongside private ownership and by introducing regulations to ensure that scarce resources are used in the best manner without going to the extent of having a central planning authority. However when we use the term we are really thinking of countries like present-day Britain or France where in addition to the above intervention there is also some state ownership of the means of production in addition to private enterprise. It is this aspect which must be examined more carefully.