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The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica
Capitalism is the dominant economic system in Western countries. In comparison, fewer countries use socialist economic systems. As of 2020, only Laos, China, Cuba, and Vietnam claimed to follow the principles of socialism as dictated by Marxist and Leninist theories. More often, however, it is difficult to label countries as solely capitalist or socialist. Many have mixed economies that operate under both capitalist and socialist principles.
