Capitalism is an economic system characterized by private or corporate ownership of capital goods, by investments that are determined by private decision, and by prices, production, and the distribution of goods that are determined mainly by competition in a free market.[1]
It is the economic system in which the means of production are owned by private persons, and operated for profit and where investments, distribution, income, production and pricing of goods and services are predominantly determined through the operation of a free market. Capitalism is usually considered to involve the right of individuals and corporations to trade, incorporate, employ workers, and use money, in goods, services (including finance), labor and land. By definition, production and distribution in a capitalist system are governed by the free market rather than state regulation, though this does not exclude the state defining and enforcing the basic rules of the market and may include the provision of a few basic public goods and infrastructure. Classic unrestrained capitalism is currently confined to theory, as “all of the capitalistic societies of the West have mixed economies that temper capitalism” with interventionist government regulation and social programs.[2]
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[1] Merriam Webster Dictionary
[2] Wikipedia
