Adjective

capitalist

1. Of, or pertaining to, capitalism.

   capitalist economy; capitalist countries.

2. Supporting or endorsing capitalism.

   capitalist pigs.

Synonyms

• capitalistic

Antonyms

• non-capitalist

Noun

Singular capitalist

Plural capitalists

capitalist (plural capitalists)

1. A person who is a supporter of capitalism.
2. An owner of (considerable amount of) capital.

Capitalism is an economic system in which the means of production are privately owned; supply, demand, price, distribution, and investments are determined mainly by private decisions in the free market, rather than by the state through central economic planning or through democratic planning; profit is distributed to owners who invest in businesses, and wages are paid to workers employed by businesses. Capitalism also refers to the process of capital accumulation.

There is no consensus on the precise definition of capitalism, nor how the term should be used as an analytical category. There is, however, little controversy that private ownership of the means of production, creation of goods or services for profit in a market, and prices and wages are elements of capitalism. There are a variety of historical cases to which the designation is applied, varying in time, geography, politics and culture.

Economists, political economists and historians have taken different perspectives on the analysis of capitalism. Economists usually emphasize the degree that government does not have control over markets (laissez faire), and on property rights. Most political economists emphasize private property, power relations, wage labor and class. There is general agreement that capitalism encourages economic growth while further entrenching significant differences in income and wealth. The extent to which different markets are free, as well as the rules defining private property, is a matter of politics and policy, and many states have what are termed mixed economies.

Capitalism as a deliberate system of mixed economics developed incrementally from the 16th century in Europe, although proto-capitalist organizations existed in the ancient world, and early aspects of merchant capitalism flourished during the Late Middle Ages. Capitalism became dominant in the Western world following the demise of feudalism. Capitalism gradually spread throughout Europe, and in the 19th and 20th centuries, it provided the main means of industrialization throughout much of the world. Capitalism is the dominant most used form of economic system there is in the world today. Currently, over 80% of countries use capitalism, a free market, laissez-faire economy.

Variants of capitalism include: anarcho-capitalism, corporate capitalism, crony capitalism, finance capitalism, laissez-faire capitalism, late capitalism, neo-capitalism, post-capitalism, state capitalism, state monopoly capitalism and technocapitalism.

Capitalism generally refers to an economic system in which means of production are mostly privately owned, and in which capital is invested in the production, distribution and/or other trade of goods and services for profit in a largely unregulated market.

Contents

• 1 Pro-capitalist
  • 1.1 Sourced
  • 1.2 Unsourced
• 2 Anti-capitalist
  • 2.1 Sourced
• 3 See also
• 4 External links

Pro-capitalist

Sourced

• The inherent vice of capitalism is the unequal sharing of blessings. The inherent virtue of Socialism is the equal sharing of miseries.
  • Winston Churchill, "Demobilisation", speech in the House of Commons (1945-10-22)

From Wikiquote under the GNU Free Documentation License.
Sat Oct 17 23:14:11 2009