The great chariot of society, which for so long had run down the gentle slope of tradition, now found itself powered by an internal combustion engine. Transactions and gain【C1】______a new and startling【C2】______force. What forces could have been【C3】______powerful to smash a comfortable and【C4】______world and institute in its place this new society? There was no single massive【C5】______. It was not great events, single adventures, individual laws, or charming【C6】______which【C7】______about the economic revolution. It was a process of internal growth. First, there was the gradual emergence of national political【C8】______in Europe. A second great current of change was to be found in the slow decay of the religious spirit under the【C9】______of the skeptical, inquiring, humanist views of the Italian Renaissance. Still another【C10】______current lies in the slow social changes that eventually【C11】______the market system possible. In the【C12】______of this change, power naturally began to gravitate into the hands of those who understood money matters— the merchants. Perhaps most important of all in the pervasiveness of its effect was a rise in scientific curiosity.【C13】______the world would wait until the age of Adam Smith for its【C14】______burst of technology, the Industrial Revolution could hot have taken place had not the ground been prepared【C15】______a succession of basic sub-industrial discoveries. No single one of these currents, acting by itself, could have turned society【C16】______. Indeed, many of them may have been as much the【C17】______as the causes of a great convulsion in human organization. History turns no【C18】______corners, and the whole vast upheaval sprawled out over time. Evidences of the market way of life sprang up side by side with older traditional ways, and remnants of the former day【C19】______long after the market had for all practical purposes taken over the【C20】______principle of economic organization.

Consumers and producers obviously make decisions that mold the economy, but there is a third major【C1】______to consider the role of government. Government has a powerful【C2】______on the economy in at least four ways; Direct Services. The postal system, for example, is a federal system【C3】______ the entire nation, as is the large and complex establishment. Conversely, the construction and【C4】______of most highways the【C5】______of the individual states, and the public educational systems, despite a large funding role by the federal government, are primarily【C6】______for by country or city governments. Police and fire protection and sanitation【C7】______are also the responsibilities of local government. Regulation and Control. The government regulates and controls private【C8】______in, many ways, for the【C9】______of assuring that business serves the best【C10】______of the people as a whole. Regulation is necessary in areas where private enterprise is granted a【C11】______, such as in telephone or electric service. Public policy permits such companies to make a reasonable【C12】______, but limits their ability to raise prices【C13】______, since the public depends on their services. Often control is【C14】______to protect the public, as for example, when the Food and Drug administration bans harmful drugs, or requires standards of【C15】______in food. In other industries, government sets guidelines to ensure fair competition without using direct control. Stabilization and Growth. Branches of government, including Congress and such entities as the Federal Reserve Board attempt to control the extremes of boom and bust, of inflation and depression, by【C16】______tax rates, the money supply, and the use of credit. They can also【C17】______the economy through changes in the amount of public spending by the government itself. Direct Assistance. The government provides many kinds of help to【C18】______and individuals. For example, tariffs【C19】______certain products to remain relatively free of foreign competition; imports are sometimes taxed so that American products are able to【C20】______better with certain foreign goods, In quite a different area, government supports individuals who cannot adequately care for themselves, by making grants to working parents with dependent children, by providing medical care for the aged and the indigent, and through social welfare system.