Capitalism

Contents
 * ** Definition of Capitalism **
 * **History of Capitalism **
 * ** Type of Capitalism **
 * **Controversy over Capitalism **
 * **Comparison with other Economic System **
 * **Connection with Anthem **
 * **Useful Links in Class **
 * **References **

l **Definition of Capitalism ** __Capitalism __ is an economic system which based on individual rights but not the government or society. Compared with other __social institution__, __private ownership__, __competitive market__, __wage labor__ and production for profit are the main properties of capitalism.

l **History of Capitalism ** Most of the capitalists emerged in the 18th,19th and 20th century, such as __Adam Smith__, __David Ricardo__, __Karl Marx__ in __industrial revolution__, __John Maynard Keynes__ inGreat Depression and __Friedrich August von Hayek__ and __Milton Friedman__ in __[|Cold War]__. The concept of capitalism is changing with the time passed by and is different due to the political view and the way of analysis. Economic liberalism supported by Adam Smith focuses on the importance of the invisible hand (supply and demand in the market). Some supporters (Milton Friedman, Ayn Rand and Alan Greenspan) emphasized the importance of the free market that can promote cooperation and creation among individuals, the development of economy and freedom. Some people ( like Immanuel Wallerstein ) consider capitalism as a key to promote products and services for trading in market, while capital products are owned by non-country organizations and operated in global scale. As for others (like Karl Marx), capitalism is defined as a social connection which has never been seen before causing the engenderment of labor market in which most people should betray their labor. Many people consider capitalism as market economy.

l **Types of Capitalism **

There are varieties of capitalism existing in the world. Several main types are listed below:

<span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 16pt;">1. __<span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 16pt;">Mercantilism __ <span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 16pt;">- A form of capitalism which considers that trade generates wealth through accumulation of profitable balance of trade. It also suggests that government should take control of the country’s economy in order to increase its own wealth by damaging its competed countries.

<span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 16pt;">2. __<span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 16pt;">Free-market capitalism __ <span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 16pt;">- An economic system in which the price of goods and services is influenced by supply and demand of the products and is not controlled by the government. The role of government here is to protect property rights.

<span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 16pt;">3. __<span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 16pt;">Social market economy __ <span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 16pt;">- A social market economy is based on a free market system where government provides social security, unemployment benefits and recognition of labor rights to elderly and unemployed.

<span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 16pt;">4. __<span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 16pt;">State capitalism __ <span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 16pt;">- A political system in which the state controls the production of goods and the use of capital.

<span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 16pt;">5. __<span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 16pt;">Mixed economy __ <span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 16pt;">- A mixed economy consists of both private and public ownership. Specifically, some companies are owned privately while some are operated by the government.

<span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 16pt;">6. Other <span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 16pt;">Other types of capitalism include: > > > > > > > > > >
 * Crony capitalism
 * Finance capitalism
 * Financial capitalism
 * Late capitalism
 * Market economy
 * Neo-Capitalism
 * Post-capitalism
 * Technocapitalism

l **<span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif;">Controversy over Capitalism **

<span style="background-color: white; display: block; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 16pt; text-align: left;">People have been holding different opinions towards the strength and weakness of capitalism for hundreds of years. <span style="background-color: white; display: block; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 16pt; text-align: left;">Some people consider capitalism as the best choose for countries’ development since they believe private ownership, free market and labor market can boost economic prosperity. Also, capitalism insists open election and supervision for officials, which advocates democracy and competition diminishing official corruption. <span style="background-color: white; display: block; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 16pt; text-align: left;">However, others think that it is a sign for capitalism to broaden the gap between rich and poor and to monopoly the market since it can make contribution to exploitation of cultural and economy, increase of unemployment rate and unrest of economy.

l **<span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif;">Comparison with other Economic System ** <span style="display: block; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 16pt; text-align: left;">Compared with capitalism, in __feudalism__, the emperor controls legislative authority and ownership of land. In __socialism__, means of production is controlled and operated by government and people. In __communism__, means of production is owned by community but not employers in order to abolish property of capitalism. In addition, as what Karl Marx mentioned, the production of work is distributed due to the demand of individual, and the purchase and traffic should be abolished. <span style="display: block; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 16pt; text-align: left;">Meanwhile, capitalism which is based on market economy is opposed to __planned economy__. In planned economy, the demands of economy (like labor, capital and nature resource) are all controlled and censored by government in order to catch up the plan of economic development made by government. In corporatism, <span style="display: block; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 16pt; text-align: left;">it is said to serve for government’s profit, private corporations are closely connected with government.

l **<span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif;">Connection with Anthem **  <span style="display: block; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 20pt; text-align: left;"> <span style="display: block; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 16pt; text-align: left;">1. One of the philosophy Any Rand provided in //Anthem// is that man-every man-is an end in himself (he must exist for his own sake). Similarly, capitalism emphasizes the importance of individual rights that consumers have freedom to choose their preferred needs and wants and will not be limited by government or other organizations. However, in //Anthem//, the Council decides the limited needs for the citizens. For example, it takes the Council fifty years to secure the approval of all the Councils for the Candle, and to decide upon the number needed. It is ridiculous to monopoly one type of goods and even to control the numbers in capitalism, which reveals the weakness of communism. <span style="display: block; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 16pt; text-align: left;">2. In //Anthem//, the Council owns all the capital resources and force citizens to do specific work for the Council without paying. In stark contrast, capitalism in which individual owns the means of production considers government as a policeman that protects man’s rights and prevents illegal trading among entrepreneurs. Ideally, state and economics should be separated completely so that the invisible hand can play a significant role in the free market. <span style="display: block; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 16pt; text-align: left;">3. In //Anthem//, Equality discovers electricity by himself which seems to be a horrible sin and cannot be accepted by the Council of Scholars. By contrast, capitalism encourages all the innovations and inventions which can promote the development of economy. <span style="display: block; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 16pt; text-align: left;">4. The Council sets people to live and work in groups and cannot think about the thing that never occurred. For example, some people who worked in the Council of Scholar had some great ideas but they had to give up their thoughts under the pressure of conformity. Moreover, the Council even says that what is not thought by all men cannot be true. The Council is afraid of development and makes stability and conformity as the crucial limitation for citizens and society while development and individuality are the key words in capitalism. <span style="display: block; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 16pt; text-align: left;">5. After entering the Uncharted Forest, Equality finds that he is free to do everything and can pursuit his own sake, which reveals the harmfulness of conformity and encourages the benefit of capitalism in which man have more freedom to pursuit their aspiration.

l **<span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif;">Useful Links in Class ** Laissez-Faire Market <span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 20pt;"> – a kind of capitalism @Individualism <span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 20pt;">– describe this concept in greater detail Socialism <span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 20pt;">– do some research on this concept of society Communes <span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 16pt;">– <span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 20pt;">research modern day communal living Objectivism <span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 20pt;"> – provide the basics of Ayn Rand’s Philosophy

l **<span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif;">References ** = =
 * // The Capitalism Site | Laissez-faire Capitalism Is the Political Economic System Based on Individual Rights // . Capitalism Magazine, 2011. Web. 13 Nov. 2011. <http://capitalism.org/>.
 * "Capitalism." // Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia // . En.wikipedia.org, 13 Nov. 2011. Web. 13 Nov. 2011. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Capitalism>.

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 * "Capitalism: Definition from Answers.com." // Answers.com: Wiki Q&A Combined with Free Online Dictionary, Thesaurus, and Encyclopedias // . Answers Corporation, 2011. Web. 13 Nov. 2011. <http://www.answers.com/topic/capitalism>.
 * "Capitalism: The Concise Encyclopedia of Economics." // Library of Economics and Liberty // . Liberty Fund, Inc., 2008. Web. 13 Nov. 2011. <http://www.econlib.org/library/Enc/Capitalism.html>.
 * "Capitalism Is a Social System Founded upon Individual Rights." // The Capitalism Site | Laissez-faire Capitalism Is the Political Economic System Based on Individual Rights // . Capitalism Magazine, 2004. Web. 13 Nov. 2011. <http://www.capitalism.org/tour/>.