WHAT IS CAPITALISM?

Capitalism is an economic system in which the means of production are privately owned and operated for profit from investment, usually in competitive markets. There is no consensus on the precise definition of capitalism, nor on how the term should be used as a historical 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, wages and competition are elements of capitalism. The designation is applied to a variety of historical cases, varying in time, geography, politics and culture.

Private ownership in capitalism implies the right to control property, including the determination of how it is used, who uses it, whether to sell or rent it, and the right to the revenue generated by the property. However, there may be an abandonment period of time, after which resources return to unowned status.

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, class and emphasize capitalism as a unique historical formation. There is general agreement that capitalism encourages economic growth. 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.. An economic system that relies on private property and market relations but also contains a significant degree of government intervention is sometimes called a mixed economy.