How does/should the economy work?

You always talk about economic systems and just leave it at that. What about the actual flow of things? What major sectors of the economy are there and how do they interact? List them all including the man power, prior investment and resources needed for operation. Also touch off on R&D and the properties of economies with a high gdp per capita. Compare and contrast different regions at certain periods of time with a similiar environments and economies but different major economic policies. Use deduction and induction via scientific method, in order to aid in comparing and contrasting estimate the effect certain factors have on the properties of a region and use these estimates to account for statistical discrepancies. Take a statistical and analytical approach. No need to back up all sources until things get into detail.

K go!