The Big Three Market DriversLearn Capital Flow AnalysisDo Companies Cheat Shareholders?Buybacks: The Fraud of the CenturySocialism vs. Free EnterpriseDo You Believe Official Statistics?Globalization: Good or Bad? | Subject: Capitalist Ideology A kind of economic theory. Capitalism is an economic and social system in which capital, the non-labor factors of production (also known as the means of production), is privately controlled;[citation needed] labor, goods and capital are traded in markets; and profits distributed to owners or invested in technologies and industries. There is no consensus on capitalism, nor how it should be used as an analytical category. There are a variety of historical cases over which it is applied, varying in time, geography, politics and culture. Economists, political economists and historians have taken different perspectives on the analysis of capitalism. Scholars in the social sciences, including historians, economic sociologists, economists, anthropologists and philosophers have debated over how to define capitalism, however there is little controversy that private ownership of the means of production, creation of goods or services for profit in a market, and prices and wages are elements of capitalism. Economists usually put emphasis on the market mechanism, degree of government control over markets (laissez faire), and property rights, while most political economists emphasize private property, power relations, wage labor, and class. There is a general agreement that capitalism encourages economic growth. The extent to which different markets are “free”, as well as the rules determining what may and may not be private property, is a matter of politics and policy and many states have what are termed “mixed economies.” Capitalism as a system developed incrementally from the 16th century in Europe, although capitalist-like organizations existed in the ancient world, and early aspects of merchant capitalism flourished during the Late Middle Ages. Capitalism became dominant in the Western world following the demise of feudalism. Capitalism gradually spread throughout Europe, and in the 19th and 20th centuries, it provided the main means of industrialization throughout much of the world. [Wikipedia] Fat-Finger Thursday: By John Schroy, on May 10th, 2010 |   On May 6, 2010, the Dow Jones Stock Index, at about 2:30 PM, fell almost one thousand points, before recovering when traders discovered that there was no real news justifying the crash in prices. The day will forever be know as ‘Fat-Finger Thursday’, in remembrance of the first inclination to blame the crash on supposed mistaken data entry by some trader, somewhere. Later, the authorities came out and declared that there was no “fat finger”, but that the cause for the anomaly was unknown and under investigation. Healthcare Economics By John Schroy, on April 7th, 2010 |  Barack Obama failed to achieve his dream of nationalized healthcare for one simple reason. He forgot that doctors and hospitals were still operating under the Free Enterprise system. His focus was entirely on health insurance, as if this were the only road to healthcare. Doctors and hospitals are still in the private sector. They are still free to act — and react. And they will. What would Adam Smith say? By John Schroy, on March 11th, 2010 |  Most corporate executives of giant companies today are, in actuality, mere employees (‘workers’ in communist jargon) and are not capitalists or entrepreneurs at all. Their extraordinary remuneration schemes are provided without executives having employed or having risked any of their own capital and is often paid, even as a corporation slides into bankruptcy. Adam Smith recognized self-interest as a useful trait, but one that should not be allowed to override the nobler virtues. Featured articles on inside pages | Site navigation Capital Flow Watch has hundreds of articles on economics and investments. Articles have excerpts on the front pages, and on tag, category, search and archive pages.
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