Capitalism

Definition

• Capitalism is an economic system based on competition between sellers who all want to make a profit.

Reason for its emergance

• Capitalism had its origins in mercantilism, which was the basis of trade for about 200 years from 1600. Then in the 18th century, Adam Smith, a Scottish philosopher, created a radically different way to produce wealth, hence the emergence of capitalism
• Mercantilism comes from the merchant and merchandise, which basically means the seller and the goods for sale. In the 16th century Mercantilism was regarded as the basis of a nations wealth.

How it develop?

• Adam Smith developed capitalism by stressing the importance of individual liberty, and encouraging many of the rich to invest in businesses with the aim of making a profit. Many people took advantage of the uprising of capitalism and as a result made a profit.

The roles of any individuals or groups

• With The Wealth of Nations Adam Smith installed himself as the leading expositor of economic thought. Currents of Adam Smith run through the works published by David Ricardo and Karl Marx in the nineteenth century, and by John Maynard Keynes and Milton Friedman in the twentieth.The responses to the idea from workers, land owners, entrepreneurs and religious groups.

short or long term impacts

• The industrial revolution began as a result of capitalism
• From the 1940s various forms of communism were adopted by a number of countries
• Today most countries have economic systems based on capitalism.

References

• http://www.progress.org/article/capitalism-defined-and-explained
• http://www.investinganswers.com/financial-dictionary/economics/capitalism-1...
• http://educateinspirechange.org/alternative-news/capitalism-different-count...
• http://ticobull.com/capitalism-explained/