Capitalism

Capitalism is an economic system based on the private ownership of the means of production and their operation for profit.[1][2][3][4] Central characteristics of capitalism include capital accumulation, competitive markets, price systems, private property, property rights recognition, voluntary exchange, and wage labor.[5][6] 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 and financial markets—whereas prices and the distribution of goods and services are mainly determined by competition in goods and services markets.[7]

Part of a series on
Capitalism
Concepts Austerity Business Business cycle Businessperson Capital Capital accumulation Capital markets Company Corporation Competitive markets Economic interventionism Economic liberalism Economic surplus Entrepreneurship Fictitious capital Financial market Free price system Free market Goods and services Investor Invisible hand Visible hand Liberalization Marginalism Money Private property Privatization Profit Rent seeking Supply and demand Surplus value Value Wage labour
Economic systems Anglo-Saxon Authoritarian Corporate Dirigist Free-market Humanistic Laissez-faire Liberal Libertarian Market Mercantilist Mixed Monopoly State National Neoliberal Nordic Private Raw Regulated market Regulatory Rhine Social State State-sponsored Welfare
Economic theories American Austrian Chartalism MMT Chicago Classical Institutional Keynesian Neo- New Post- Market monetarism Critique of political economy Critique of work Marxist Monetarist Neoclassical New institutional Supply-side
Origins Age of Enlightenment Capitalism and Islam Commercial Revolution Feudalism Industrial Revolution Mercantilism Primitive accumulation Physiocracy Simple commodity production
Development Advanced Consumer Community Corporate Crony Finance Global Illiberal Late Marxist Merchant Progressive Rentier State monopoly Technological
People Adam Smith John Stuart Mill David Ricardo Thomas Robert Malthus Jean-Baptiste Say Karl Marx Milton Friedman Friedrich Hayek John Maynard Keynes Alfred Marshall Vilfredo Pareto Leon Walras Ludwig von Mises Ayn Rand Murray Rothbard Joseph Schumpeter Thorstein Veblen Max Weber Ronald Coase
Related topics Anti-capitalism Capitalist realism Capitalist state Consumerism Crisis theory Criticism of capitalism Critique of political economy Critique of work Cronyism Culture of capitalism Evergreening Exploitation of labour Globalization History History of theory Market economy Periodizations of capitalism Perspectives on capitalism Post-capitalism Speculation Spontaneous order Venture philanthropy Wage slavery
Ideologies Anarcho Authoritarian Classical liberalism Democratic Dirigisme Eco Humanistic Inclusive Liberal Liberalism Libertarian Neo Neoliberalism Objectivism Ordoliberalism Privatism Right-libertarianism Third Way
Capitalism portal  Business portal
v t e

Part of a series on
Finance
Markets Assets Bond Commodity Derivatives Foreign exchange Money Over-the-counter Private equity Real estate Spot Stock Participants Investor institutional Retail Speculator Locations Financial centres Offshore financial centres Conduit and sink OFCs
Instruments Bond Cash Collateralised debt obligation Credit default swap Time deposit (certificate of deposit) Credit line Deposit Derivative Futures contract Indemnity Insurance Letter of credit Loan Mortgage Option (call exotic put) Performance bonds Repurchase agreement Stock Security Syndicated loan Synthetic CDO
Corporate General Accounting Audit Capital budgeting Credit rating agency Risk management Financial statements Transactions Leveraged buyout Mergers and acquisitions Structured finance Venture capital Taxation Base erosion and profit shifting (BEPS) Corporate tax haven Tax inversion Tax haven Transfer pricing
Personal Credit / Debt Employment contract Financial planning Retirement Student loan
Public Government spending Final consumption expenditure Operations Redistribution Transfer payment Government revenue Taxation Deficit spending Budget (balance) Debt Non-tax revenue Warrant of payment
Banking Central bank Deposit account Fractional-reserve Full-reserve Loan Money supply Lists of banks Bank regulation Banking license Basel Accords Bank for International Settlements Financial Stability Board Deposit insurance Separation of investment and retail banking
Regulation · Financial law International Financial Reporting Standards ISO 31000 Professional certification Fund governance
Economic history Private equity and venture capital Recession Stock market bubble Stock market crash Accounting scandals
Business and Economics portal  Money portal
v t e

Part of a series on
Accounting
Historical cost Constant purchasing power Management Tax
Major types Audit Budget Cost Forensic Financial Fund Governmental Management Social Tax
Key concepts Accounting period Accrual Constant purchasing power Economic entity Fair value Going concern Historical cost Matching principle Materiality Revenue recognition Unit of account
Selected accounts Assets Cash Cost of goods sold Depreciation / Amortization (business) Equity Expenses Goodwill Liabilities Profit Revenue
Accounting standards Generally-accepted principles Generally-accepted auditing standards Convergence International Financial Reporting Standards International Standards on Auditing Management Accounting Principles
Financial statements Annual report Balance sheet Cash-flow Equity Income Management discussion Notes to the financial statements
Bookkeeping Bank reconciliation Debits and credits Double-entry system FIFO and LIFO Journal Ledger / General ledger Trial balance
Auditing Financial Internal Firms Report Sarbanes–Oxley Act
People and organizations Accountants Accounting organizations Luca Pacioli
Development History Research Positive accounting Sarbanes–Oxley Act
Misconduct Creative Earnings management Error account Hollywood Off-balance-sheet Two sets of books
v t e

Part of a series on
Liberalism
Schools Classical Radical Conservative Cultural Democratic Feminist Equity Green Internationalist Muscular National Neo Ordo Progressive Religious Christian Catholic Islamic Jewish Secular Social Techno Third Way
Concepts Consent of the governed Due process Democracy Economic liberalism Economic globalization Equality Gender Legal Federalism Freedom Economic Market Trade Press Religion Speech Harm principle Internationalism Invisible hand Labor theory of property Lockean proviso Laissez-faire Liberty Negative Positive Limited government Market economy Natural monopoly Open society Permissive society Popular sovereignty Property Private Public Rights Civil and political Natural and legal To own property To bear arms Rule of law Secularism Secular humanism Separation of church and state Separation of powers Social contract Social justice Basic income Social services Welfare state State of nature
History Age of Enlightenment List of liberal theorists (contributions to liberal theory)
Philosophers Acton Arnold Aron Badawi Bastiat Bentham Berlin Burke Čapek Cassirer Collingwood Condorcet Constant Croce Emerson Friedman Guizot Hayek Hobhouse Hu Humboldt Kant Keynes Korais Kymlicka List Locke Martineau Mill Milton Mises Montesquieu Nozick Ortega Paine Popper Priestley Rawls Ricardo Rousseau Say Sen Smith Spencer Spinoza Staël Tocqueville Turgot Voltaire Weber Wollstonecraft
Politicians Artigas Broglie Cavour Cobden Deák Deakin Einaudi Gladstone Gokhale Itagaki Jefferson Jenkins Juárez Kemal Kennedy King Kołłątaj Kossuth Lamartine Levski Lincoln Lloyd George Macaulay Madison Madero Mazzini Milyukov Mommsen Naoroji Ohlin Pearson Rathenau Roosevelt Sarmiento Ståhlberg Venizelos
Organizations Africa Liberal Network Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe Party Amnesty International Arab Liberal Federation Council of Asian Liberals and Democrats European Democratic Party European Liberal Youth European Party for Individual Liberty Humanists International International Alliance of Libertarian Parties International Federation of Liberal Youth Liberal International Liberal Network for Latin America Liberal parties Liberal South East European Network
Regional variants Europe Latin America Albania Armenia Australia Austria Belgium Bolivia Brazil Bulgaria Canada Chile China Hong Kong Colombia Costa Rica Croatia Cuba Cyprus Czechia Denmark Ecuador Egypt Estonia Finland France Georgia Germany Greece Venizelism Honduras Hungary Iceland India Iran Israel Italy Liberism Japan Latvia Lithuania Luxembourg Mexico Moldova Montenegro Netherlands New Zealand Nicaragua Nigeria North Macedonia Norway Panama Paraguay Peru Philippines Poland Cracovian Portugal Romania Russia Senegal Serbia Slovakia Slovenia South Africa South Korea Spain Sweden Switzerland Taiwan Thailand Tunisia Turkey Ukraine United Kingdom Cobdenism Gladstonian Manchester Whiggism United States Arizona School Classical Jeffersonian Modern Uruguay Venezuela Zimbabwe
Related topics Anti-authoritarianism Anti-communism Bias in American academia Bias in the media Capitalism Democratic Centrism Radical centrism Economic freedom Egalitarianism Empiricism Humanism Individualism Anarchist Land value tax Libertarianism Left Right Pirate Party Sexually liberal feminism Utilitarianism
Liberalism portal  Politics portal
v t e

Part of the Politics series on
Neoliberalism
Ideas Austerity Balanced budget Denationalization Deregulation Economic freedom Economic integration Economic interdependence Economic liberalization Foreign direct investment Free markets Free trade (area) Globalization Intellectual property Laffer curve Marketization Market economy Mundell–Fleming model Privatization Public–private partnership School vouchers Single market Structural Adjustment Programme Supranationalism Tax cuts
Economics Austrian School Chicago School Monetarism Neoclassical Supply-side Trickle-down
Movements Fiscal conservatism Fujimorism Thatcherism Third Way New Democrats New Labour Positive non-interventionism Reaganomics Rogernomics Economic liberalization in India Chinese economic reform
Governance Association of Southeast Asian Nations Bank for International Settlements European Central Bank European Union Federal Reserve Greater Arab Free Trade Area International Monetary Fund MERCOSUR North American Free Trade Agreement Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership World Bank World Trade Organization
Organizations Mont Pelerin Society Chicago boys World Economic Forum Adam Smith Institute Third Way
People Milton Friedman Friedrich Hayek Ludwig von Mises James M. Buchanan Augusto Pinochet Margaret Thatcher Ronald Reagan Roger Douglas Alan Greenspan Alberto Fujimori Bill Clinton Tony Blair
Related topics Anti-capitalism Anti-globalization Alter-globalization Authoritarian capitalism Blatcherism Criticism of capitalism Criticism of intellectual property Market fundamentalism
Capitalism portal  Economics portal  Politics portal
v t e

Economists, historians, political economists and sociologists have adopted different perspectives in their analyses of capitalism and have recognized various forms of it in practice. These include laissez-faire or free-market capitalism, anarcho-capitalism, state capitalism and welfare capitalism. Different forms of capitalism feature varying degrees of free markets, public ownership,[8] obstacles to free competition and state-sanctioned social policies. The degree of competition in markets and the role of intervention and regulation as well as the scope of state ownership vary across different models of capitalism.[9][10] The extent to which different markets are free and the rules defining private property are matters of politics and policy. Most of the existing capitalist economies are mixed economies that combine elements of free markets with state intervention and in some cases economic planning.[11]

Market economies have existed under many forms of government and in many different times, places and cultures. Modern industrial capitalist societies developed in Western Europe in a process that led to the Industrial Revolution. Economic growth is a characteristic tendency of capitalist economies.[12]