NSmolenskiFan on Nostr: I agree with Monbiot that both capitalism’s defenders *and* detractors rarely ...
I agree with Monbiot that both capitalism’s defenders *and* detractors rarely define it.
I find the following definition the most useful: “Capitalism is an economic system in which capital goods are put to work in order to generate more capital goods.” In other words, capitalism is a system in which growing productivity through capital investment is the main aim of economic activity. This is what differentiates capitalist economies from other types of commercial economies, and why it has been such a runaway engine of growth historically.
Importantly, you can have a capitalist economy in which the means of production are either privately or publicly owned. The question then becomes: what structures of ownership create optimal conditions for the generation of capital goods? In other words, what structure of ownership lends itself best to increasing the rate of economic growth in a human society? This is where economists from different schools genuinely disagree, and that disagreement needs to be made explicit and owned in order for political conversations to be actually productive.
Naturally, I agree with economists who have argued that returns on capital are most strongly incentivized under the conditions of private property protected by the rule of law. Societies that prioritize private property ownership will economically outperform societies in which the state is the owner of capital goods. This is what we should be debating, not whether “capitalism” (which is nothing more than a social technology) is “good” or “bad.”
I find the following definition the most useful: “Capitalism is an economic system in which capital goods are put to work in order to generate more capital goods.” In other words, capitalism is a system in which growing productivity through capital investment is the main aim of economic activity. This is what differentiates capitalist economies from other types of commercial economies, and why it has been such a runaway engine of growth historically.
Importantly, you can have a capitalist economy in which the means of production are either privately or publicly owned. The question then becomes: what structures of ownership create optimal conditions for the generation of capital goods? In other words, what structure of ownership lends itself best to increasing the rate of economic growth in a human society? This is where economists from different schools genuinely disagree, and that disagreement needs to be made explicit and owned in order for political conversations to be actually productive.
Naturally, I agree with economists who have argued that returns on capital are most strongly incentivized under the conditions of private property protected by the rule of law. Societies that prioritize private property ownership will economically outperform societies in which the state is the owner of capital goods. This is what we should be debating, not whether “capitalism” (which is nothing more than a social technology) is “good” or “bad.”