Home > Capitalism
Capitalism generally refers to- a combination of economic practices that became institutionalized in Europe between the 16th and 19th centuries. Exactly which historic and current practices are considered part of "capitalism" varies among users of the term. Ways in which this period differed from earlier ones include the prevalence of wage labor, the private ownership of capital including land, relatively freer trade (but see mercantilism), and the enforcement by the state of private property rights rather than feudal obligations.
- competing (and contentious) theories that developed in the 19th century, in the context of the industrial revolution, and 20th century, in the context of the Cold War, meant to justify the private ownership of capital, to explain the operation of such markets, and to guide the application or elimination of governmentA government is an organization that has the power to make and enforce laws for a certain territory. There are several definitions on what exactly constitutes a government. The government has been defined as the dominant decision-making arm (the policy el regulationIn the context of government and public services regulation (as a process) is the control of something by rules, as opposed to its prohibition. In economics, it is part of the government relationship with markets, often seen as the opposite of deregulatio of propertyThis page deals with property as ownership rights. For information about property in the performing arts, see prop. For information about properties in philosophy, see property (philosophy Within the law, property is a general legal category for rights of and markets.
- a belief in the advantages of such practices.
1 Etymology
The lexical roots of the word capital reveal roots in the trade and ownership of animals. The Latin root of the word capital is capitalis, from the proto-Indo-EuropeanThe Proto-Indo-Europeans are the hypothetical speakers of the reconstructed Proto-Indo-European language a prehistoric people of the late Neolithic and early Bronze Age. Culture and Religion See also Proto-Indo-European society, Proto-Indo-European religi kaput, which means "head", this being how wealth was measured. The more heads of cattle, the better. The terms chattel (meaning goods, animals, or slaves) and even cattle itself also derive from this same origin.
The lexical connections between animal trade and economics can also be seen in the names of many currencies and words about money: fee (faihu), rupee (rupya), buck (a deerskin), pecuniary (pecu), stock (livestock), and peso (pecu or pashu) all derive from animal-trade origins.
Often thought of as the "father of capitalist thinking," Adam Smith himself never used the term. He described his own preferred economic system as "the system of natural libertyThe word liberty when used alone, has several possible meanings in the English language see Liberty disambiguation for other possible uses. Liberty or personal freedom, is a condition in which an individual has immunity from the arbitrary exercise of auth." Though popular with MarxistsMarxian theory is theory which intends to follow and expand upon Karl Marx's economic analysis or political philosophy, or at least from parts of it. To some, it is distinct from Marxism in that it does not lean entirely upon the work of Marx and other wi, the word "capitalism" was in fact neither used by Karl MarxKarl Heinrich Marx ( May 5, 1818 March 14, 1883) was an influential German economist, philosopher, social and political theorist. Although Marx addressed many issues in his career as a journalist and philosopher, he is most famous for his analysis of hist, who only spoke about capital, to refer to the relationship between owners (capitalists) and workers ( proletarians). Although it is not clear who used the word in its current, systemic context first, it was coined and introduced into the economic - and general - discourse by Werner Sombart with his 1906 classic, Modern Capitalism.
