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Compare And Summary: Capitalism And Free Enterprise

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Capitalism is an economic system in which capital goods are owned by private individuals or businesses. The production of goods and services is based on supply and demand in the general market. The purest form of capitalism is free market or laissez-faire capitalism, where private individuals are completely unrestrained in determining where to invest, what to produce or sell, and at which prices to exchange goods and services, operating without check or controls. Most modern countries practice a mixed capitalist system of some sort that includes government regulation of business and industry. How capitalism works is simply one process by which the problems of economic production and resource distribution might be resolved. Instead of planning economic decisions through centralized political methods, as with …show more content…

Capitalism and free enterprise are often seen as synonymous. In truth, they are closely related yet distinct terms with overlapping features. It is possible to have a capitalist economy without complete free enterprise, and possible to have a free market without capitalism. Any economy is capitalist as long as the factors of production are controlled by private individuals. However, a capitalist system can still be regulated by government laws and the profits of capitalist endeavors can still be taxed heavily. While "Free enterprise" can roughly be translated to mean economic exchanges free of oppressive government influence. Although unlikely, it is possible to conceive of a system where voluntary individuals always trade in a way that is not capitalistic. Private property rights still exist in a free enterprise system, although private property may be voluntarily treated as communal without a government mandate. Many Native American tribes existed with elements of these arrangements. If accumulation, ownership, and profiting from capital is the central principle of capitalism, then freedom from state oppression is the central principle of free

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