A social market economy is a socioeconomic model used in Germany. This system combined the most favorable aspects of free-market capitalism and social programs to create a socioeconomic model that protects the health and welfare of the workers and allows business owners to enjoy the economic freedoms of the free-market. The two main components of a social market economy are the central elements of the free-market, which includes free foreign trade, private property, and the free formation of prices, and social programs such as universal health care, old-age pension, and unemployment benefits. Many economists compare this system to a mixed-economy.