Economics can be defined as a research on how people in a society utilises limited resources to produce goods and services to satisfy their unlimited material needs in the best or most optimum manner. Also, economics is a social science study as it involves the interaction among the different groups in the society, such as households, firms and the government.
Meanwhile, economic system is a regulated way practiced by a particular country in managing its economic, in which the way a country allocates resources and distributes goods and services within a society or a given geographic area. It includes the combination of several institutions, entities, agencies, decision-making processes and patterns of consumption that compromise the economic structure of a specific community. Thus, it is a type of social system. All economic systems have three basic questions to ask: what to produce, how to produce and in what quantities, and who receives the output of production. There are four primary types of economic systems in the world: traditional, free-market, centrally-planned and mixed. Each economy has its strengths and weaknesses, its sub-economies and tendencies, and troubled history.
Currently, Malaysia is adopting Mixed Economy System which includes a variety of private freedom, combined with centralized economic planning and government regulation. Mixed economy system is adopted adversely by most countries like Malaysia however the level of mixture varies depending on the level of government intervention in the economic system. The economy of Malaysia is the 3rd largest in Southeast Asia, and is the 38th largest economy in the world. Malaysian labour productivity is significantly higher than neighbouring Thailand, Indonesia, Philippines or Vietnam due to a high density of knowledge-based industries and adoption of cutting edge technology for manufacturing and digital economy. According to the Global Competitiveness Report 2017, the Malaysian economy is the 23rd most competitive country in the world in the period of 2017–2018. Moreover, Malaysia is a member of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC), the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), and the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP).
Mixed economy system is a system that combines characteristics of traditional, free-market and centrally-planned in which both the private sector and the government make economic decision. It benefits from the advantages of all three while suffering from few of the disadvantages. A mixed economy system protects private property and allows a level of economic freedom in the use of capital, but also allows for governments to interfere in economic activities in order to achieve social aims. In the mixed economy system, the price mechanism is used to determine what goods are to be produced and how much. However, the government intervenes in the market to ensure the provision of public goods and the stability and growth of the economy. Other than that, households and firms are free to own resources, businesses, and make purchase decisions. Although, the government is involved in the economy to curb unfair business practices, ensure inequitable distribution of wealth and income, and promotes a stable economy. Hence, the purpose of government intervention in the economics system is to patch up weaknesses of the free-market system. The government applies directive power and rules such as collecting tax and providing subsidies. The same applies with the production of public goods that are less appealing to private bodies such as electricity supply, water supply and transportation. Besides that, the government also plays a role in stabilisation and economic growth.
Many of the advantages of a mixed economy system are found in a free-market economy system. Firstly, it distributes goods and services to where they are most needed, while allowing prices to measure supply and demand. Second, incentives to be efficient. Most business and industry can be managed by private firms. Private firms tend to be more efficient than government-controlled firms because they have a profit incentive to cut costs and be innovative. Third, it rewards the most efficient producers with the highest profit. That means customers get the best value for their dollar. Next, a degree of quality. A mixed economy can create greater equality and provide a ‘safety net’ to prevent people living in absolute poverty. At the same time, a mixed economy can enable people to enjoy the financial rewards of hard work and entrepreneurship. Mixed economy system also will help to narrow the gap between the rich and the poor.
Mixed economy system also suffers from few disadvantages which is a mixture of the disadvantages of the other types of economic system. It depends on which characteristics the mixed economy emphasizes. First, excessive control by the government may discourage investment as intervention from government may lead to inefficient distribution of resources and goods. Second, tax collected can be high in order to maintain a huge government sector. Also, if the market has too much freedom, it can leave the less competitive members of society without any government support.

According to the The Star news, it is said that Bank Negara has lowered Malaysia’s economic growth forecast for 2018 to 5% from its earlier estimate of 5.5% – 6%. The country’s economy has expended below the 5.5%-level over the last two consecutive quarters. In fact, Malaysia’s domestic product (GDP) growth has been decelerating since the third quarter of 2017, when the economy grew by 6.2% year-on-year. Bank Negara stated that supply disruptions in the second quarter resulted in the slower economic growth. In a statement by the central bank, it states that private sector in Malaysia is the primary driver of growth as both private consumption and investment expanded strongly during the quarter.
Malaysia, an upper middle-income country, has transformed itself since the 1970s from one based primarily on the export of raw materials to one that is among the strongest, most diversified, and fastest-growing in Southeast Asia. But also, at the same time Malaysia is vulnerable to a fall in world commodity prices or a general slowdown in global economic. Nevertheless, since it became independent in 1957, Malaysia’s economic record has been one of Asia’s best. Real gross domestic product (GDP) grew by an average of 6.5% per year from 1957to 2005. Performance peaked in the early 1980s through the mid-1990s, as the economy experienced sustained rapid growth averaging almost 8% annually. Malaysia is a major producer of rubber and palm oil, exports considerable quantities of petroleum and natural gas, and is one of the world’s largest sources of commercial hardwoods. High levels of foreign and domestic private investment played a significant role as the economy diversified and modernized. By using the comparative advantages of a relatively inexpensive but educated labour force, well-developed infrastructure, political stability, and an undervalued currency, Malaysia has attracted considerable foreign investment, especially from Japan and Taiwan.
Utility is the satisfaction gained by consumers from consumption of goods and services, or it can also be defined as the ability of a good to provide satisfaction to its consumer. Meanwhile, utility maximisation is an economic concept that is, when individuals making a purchase decision, they strive to obtain the most amount of value possible, while at the same time spending the least amount of money possible. When combined, the consumer is attempting to derive the greatest amount of value from their available funds. With a single product, total utility is maximised when the marginal utility from the next unit consumed is zero (by assuming that the budget of the consumer allows this point to be reached.) When multiple products are being chosen, the condition for maximising utility is that a consumer equalises the marginal utility per pound spent. The condition for maximising utility is: MUA/PA = MUB/PB where: MU is marginal utility and P is price.
The theory of consumer behaviour uses the law of diminishing marginal utility to explain how consumers allocate their incomes. The utility maximisation model is built based on the following assumptions: (1) consumers are assumed to be rational, trying to get the most value for their money, (2) consumers’ incomes are limited because their individual resources are limited, (3) consumers have clear preferences for various goods and services, (4) every item has a price tag; consumers must choose among alternative goods with their limited money incomes. Moreover, the utility maximisation rule states that consumers decide to allocate their money incomes so that the last dollar spent on each product purchased yields the same amount of extra marginal utility.