What is the economic system in the United States?

The United States operates a CAPITALIST economy, also called a MARKET ECONOMY. Either answer is accepted by USCIS. Key features include: private ownership of property and businesses; market-based pricing through supply and demand; profit motive driving production; competition between businesses; limited (though not absent) government regulation. The U.S. economy combines capitalism with some government involvement (social programs, regulatory agencies, public infrastructure), making it a 'mixed economy' in technical terms, but USCIS accepts 'capitalist economy' or 'market economy' as correct. Communism (state ownership of production) and pure socialism are different economic systems. Barter economies trade goods directly without money and are characteristic of pre-modern societies.