Capitalism: Difference between revisions

'''Capitalism''' is an [[economic system]] based on the [[private ownership]] of the [[means of production]] and their operation for [[Profit (economics)|profit]].<ref>{{cite book |last1=Zimbalist |last2=Sherman |last3=Brown |first1=Andrew |first2=Howard J. |first3=Stuart |title=Comparing Economic Systems: A Political-Economic Approach |publisher=[[Harcourt College Publishing]] |date=October 1988 |isbn=978-0-15-512403-5 |pages=[https://archive.org/details/comparingeconomi0000zimb_q8i6/page/6 6–7] |quote=Pure capitalism is defined as a system wherein all of the means of production (physical capital) are privately owned and run by the capitalist class for a profit, while most other people are workers who work for a salary or wage (and who do not own the capital or the product). |url=https://archive.org/details/comparingeconomi0000zimb_q8i6/page/6}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Rosser |first1=Mariana V. |last2=Rosser |first2=J Barkley |title=Comparative Economics in a Transforming World Economy |publisher=[[MIT Press]] |date=23 July 2003 |isbn=978-0-262-18234-8 |page=7 |quote=In capitalist economies, land and produced means of production (the capital stock) are owned by private individuals or groups of private individuals organized as firms.}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |first=Chris |last=Jenks |title=Core Sociological Dichotomies |quote=Capitalism, as a mode of production, is an economic system of manufacture and exchange which is geared toward the production and sale of commodities within a market for profit, where the manufacture of commodities consists of the use of the formally free labor of workers in exchange for a wage to create commodities in which the manufacturer extracts surplus value from the labor of the workers in terms of the difference between the wages paid to the worker and the value of the commodity produced by him/her to generate that profit. |location=London; Thousand Oaks, CA; New Delhi |publisher=[[SAGE Publishing]] |page=383}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |title=The Challenge of Global Capitalism : The World Economy in the 21st Century |last=Gilpin |first=Robert |author-link=Robert Gilpin |isbn=978-0-691-18647-4 |oclc=1076397003 |date=2018|publisher=Princeton University Press }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Sternberg |first1=Elaine |title=Defining Capitalism |journal=[[Economic Affairs (journal)|Economic Affairs]] |date=2015 |volume=35 |issue=3 |pages=380–396 |doi=10.1111/ecaf.12141|s2cid=219373247 }}</ref> Central characteristics of capitalism include [[capital accumulation]], [[competitive market]]s, [[price system]]s, [[private property]], [[Property rights (economics)|property rights]] recognition, [[economic freedom]], [[voluntary exchange]], and [[wage labor]].<ref>[[Robert Heilbroner|Heilbroner, Robert L.]] [http://www.dictionaryofeconomics.com/article?id=pde2008_C000053 "Capitalism"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171028232506/http://www.dictionaryofeconomics.com/article?id=pde2008_C000053 |date=28 October 2017 }}. [[Steven Durlauf|Steven N. Durlauf]] and [[Lawrence E. Blume]], eds. ''The New Palgrave Dictionary of Economics''. 2nd {{abbr|ed.|edition}} (Palgrave Macmillan, 2008) {{doi|10.1057/9780230226203.0198}}.</ref><ref>{{cite book |first1=Louis |last1=Hyman |author1-link=Louis Hyman |first2=Edward E. |last2=Baptist |author2-link=Edward E. Baptist |date=2014 |url=http://books.simonandschuster.com/American-Capitalism/Louis-Hyman/9781476784311 |title=American Capitalism: A Reader |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150522065957/http://books.simonandschuster.com/American-Capitalism/Louis-Hyman/9781476784311 |archive-date=22 May 2015 |publisher=[[Simon & Schuster]] |isbn=978-1-4767-8431-1}}</ref><ref name = "harris">{{cite journal |last1=Harris |first1=Neal |last2=Delanty |first2=Gerard |title=What is capitalism? Toward a working definition |journal=[[Social Science Information]] |date=2023 |volume=62 |issue=3 |pages=323–344 |doi=10.1177/05390184231203878 |doi-access=free}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Berend |first1=Ivan T. |title=Capitalism |journal=[[International Encyclopedia of the Social & Behavioral Sciences|International Encyclopedia of the Social & Behavioral Sciences (Second Edition)]] |date=2015 |pages=94–98 |doi=10.1016/B978-0-08-097086-8.62003-2|isbn=978-0-08-097087-5 }}</ref> In a [[market economy]], decision-making and investments are determined by owners of wealth, property, or ability to maneuver capital or production ability in [[Capital market|capital]] and [[financial market]]s—whereas prices and the distribution of goods and services are mainly determined by competition in goods and services markets.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Gregory |first1=Paul |last2=Stuart |first2=Robert |year=2013 |title=The Global Economy and its Economic Systems |publisher=[[South-Western College Publishing]] |page=41 |isbn=978-1-285-05535-0 |quote=Capitalism is characterized by private ownership of the factors of production. Decision making is decentralized and rests with the owners of the factors of production. Their decision making is coordinated by the market, which provides the necessary information. Material incentives are used to motivate participants.}}</ref>