Who is capitalist

Definition of capitalist Entry 1 of 2. Definition of capitalist Entry 2 of 2. Examples of capitalist in a Sentence Noun capitalists who lost everything in the '29 Crash. Robert Portman. First Known Use of capitalist Noun , in the meaning defined at sense 1 Adjective , in the meaning defined at sense 1.

History and Etymology for capitalist Noun see capital entry 2 Adjective see capital entry 2. Learn More About capitalist. Time Traveler for capitalist The first known use of capitalist was in See more words from the same year. Style: MLA. German engineer and automobile manufacturer who produced the first high-speed internal combustion engine United States industrialist who manufactured plows suitable for working the prairie soil United States inventor of a dry-plate process of developing photographic film and of flexible film his firm introduced roll film and of the box camera and of a process for color photography United States manufacturer of automobiles who pioneered mass production United States industrialist who amassed a fortune in the steel industry United States computer entrepreneur whose software company made him the youngest multi-billionaire in the history of the United States born in United States inventor and manufacturer who developed the safety razor United States financier born in France who helped finance the War of United States financier who gained control of the Erie Canal and who caused a financial panic in when he attempted to corner the gold market United States industrialist born in Switzerland who with his sons established vast mining and metal processing companies United States financier who negotiated a treaty with the Soviet Union banning tests of nuclear weapons English merchant who took over a shop in London that was expanded by his son into a prestigious department store English merchant who expanded his father's shop in London into a prestigious department store United States industrialist who manufactured and sold processed foods United States financier and philanthropist who left money to found the university and hospital that bear his name in Baltimore It is within those smoky factories and flammable textile mills that our modern idea of capitalism — and the opposition to it — began to fully flourish.

In , Scottish economist Adam Smith published his treatise, An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations , which is regarded as the bedrock upon which modern capitalism stands. Individual capitalists are typically wealthy people who have a large amount of capital money or other financial assets invested in business, and who benefit from the system of capitalism by making increased profits and thereby adding to their wealth.

A capitalist nation is dominated by the free market , which is an economic system in which both prices and production are dictated by corporations and private companies in competition with one another, and places a heavy focus on private property, economic growth, freedom of choice, and limited government intervention. Generally, those to the right of the political spectrum tend to be pro-capitalist; those on the left veer toward anti-capitalism.

They view it as the only sensible way to organize a society, insisting that alternatives like socialism, communism, or anarchism are doomed to fail. Anti-capitalists view capitalism as an inhuman, anti-democratic, unsustainable, deeply exploitative system that must be dismantled. By the 20th century, as stock exchanges became increasingly public and investment vehicles opened up to more individuals, some economists identified a variation on the system: financial capitalism.

By creating incentives for entrepreneurs to reallocate away resources from unprofitable channels and into areas where consumers value them more highly, capitalism has proven a highly effective vehicle for economic growth.

Before the rise of capitalism in the 18th and 19th centuries, rapid economic growth occurred primarily through conquest and extraction of resources from conquered peoples. In general, this was a localized, zero-sum process. Research suggests average global per-capita income was unchanged between the rise of agricultural societies through approximately when the roots of the first Industrial Revolution took hold.

In subsequent centuries, capitalist production processes have greatly enhanced productive capacity. More and better goods became cheaply accessible to wide populations, raising standards of living in previously unthinkable ways. As a result, most political theorists and nearly all economists argue that capitalism is the most efficient and productive system of exchange. In terms of political economy , capitalism is often pitted against socialism. The fundamental difference between capitalism and socialism is the ownership and control of the means of production.

In a capitalist economy, property and businesses are owned and controlled by individuals. In a socialist economy, the state owns and manages the vital means of production.

However, other differences also exist in the form of equity, efficiency, and employment. The capitalist economy is unconcerned about equitable arrangements. The argument is that inequality is the driving force that encourages innovation, which then pushes economic development. The primary concern of the socialist model is the redistribution of wealth and resources from the rich to the poor, out of fairness, and to ensure equality in opportunity and equality of outcome.

Equality is valued above high achievement, and the collective good is viewed above the opportunity for individuals to advance. The capitalist argument is that the profit incentive drives corporations to develop innovative new products that are desired by the consumer and have demand in the marketplace. It is argued that the state ownership of the means of production leads to inefficiency because, without the motivation to earn more money, management, workers, and developers are less likely to put forth the extra effort to push new ideas or products.

In a capitalist economy, the state does not directly employ the workforce. This lack of government-run employment can lead to unemployment during economic recessions and depressions. In a socialist economy, the state is the primary employer. During times of economic hardship, the socialist state can order hiring, so there is full employment.

Also, there tends to be a stronger "safety net" in socialist systems for workers who are injured or permanently disabled. Those who can no longer work have fewer options available to help them in capitalist societies. When the government owns some but not all of the means of production, but government interests may legally circumvent, replace, limit, or otherwise regulate private economic interests, that is said to be a mixed economy or mixed economic system.

A mixed economy respects property rights, but places limits on them. Property owners are restricted with regards to how they exchange with one another. These restrictions come in many forms, such as minimum wage laws, tariffs, quotas, windfall taxes, license restrictions, prohibited products or contracts, direct public expropriation , anti-trust legislation, legal tender laws, subsidies, and eminent domain.

Governments in mixed economies also fully or partly own and operate certain industries, especially those considered public goods , often enforcing legally binding monopolies in those industries to prohibit competition by private entities. In contrast, pure capitalism, also known as laissez-faire capitalism or anarcho-capitalism , such as professed by Murray N. Rothbard all industries are left up to private ownership and operation, including public goods, and no central government authority provides regulation or supervision of economic activity in general.

The standard spectrum of economic systems places laissez-faire capitalism at one extreme and a complete planned economy—such as communism —at the other. Everything in the middle could be said to be a mixed economy. The mixed economy has elements of both central planning and unplanned private business.

By this definition, nearly every country in the world has a mixed economy, but contemporary mixed economies range in their levels of government intervention. The U. Many European nations practice welfare capitalism, a system that is concerned with the social welfare of the worker, and includes such policies as state pensions, universal healthcare, collective bargaining , and industrial safety codes.

Crony capitalism refers to a capitalist society that is based on the close relationships between business people and the state. Instead of success being determined by a free market and the rule of law, the success of a business is dependent on the favoritism that is shown to it by the government in the form of t ax breaks , government grants , and other incentives. In practice, this is the dominant form of capitalism worldwide due to the powerful incentives both faced by governments to extract resources by taxing, regulating, and fostering rent-seeking activity, and those faced by capitalist businesses to increase profits by obtaining subsidies, limiting competition, and erecting barriers to entry.

In effect, these forces represent a kind of supply and demand for government intervention in the economy, which arises from the economic system itself.

Crony capitalism is widely blamed for a range of social and economic woes. Both socialists and capitalists blame each other for the rise of crony capitalism.