controls the means of production in a command economy, it determines who works where and for how much pay. This power structure contrasts sharply with a free marketeconomy, in which private companies control the means of production and hire workers based on business needs, paying them wages set by invisible market forces. In a free market economy, the law of supply and demand dictates that workers who have unique skills in high-demand fields receive high wages for their services, while low-skill individuals in fields that are saturated with workers settle for meager wages, if they can find work at all.