Capitalism

Comparative Economic Planning

 The History of Capitalism

– For survival/sustainability
– “Family”
“Division of Labor”
“The Market System”
– a way of distributing goods and services when you have a
division of labor.
– Plato & Aristotle hated the Market System.
“How do we organize?”
Organization of Society

1. Collective or community way of organizing

2. Slavery – concept of slaves and master
3. Feudalism (12th - 15th Century) – concept of serfs and
lords (serfdom)
4. Capitalism
5. Socialism
Capitalism

- Capitalism started to emerge during the 17th Century. At

first the merchants, or “buyer-uppers”, were a link between
the consumer and producer.
Capitalism

- Gradually, consumers began to dominate producers, first

by placing orders and paying in advance, then by supplying
the raw materials, and paying a wage for the work done in
producing finished goods.
Capitalism

– The concept of a waged worker signaled a crucial stage in the

development of capitalism.
– ‘cottage industry’, which saw individual homes become mini-
factories, with production directed by the capitalist. The cottage
industry model became so widespread in the woolen textile
industry that it became a method of mass production.
– In turn, the wool trade became Britain’s most important industry
by the end of the 17th Century.
– The spread of capitalism meant that the feudal economic
system and the power of the aristocracy was in terminal
decline by the late 17th Century. The establishment of
mass production, based on the cottage industry, meant
England was well on the way to becoming a capitalist
society
Capitalism

Rise of Manufacturing:
– During the 18th Century, a primitive form of
manufacturing developed, which differed from cottage
production
– Workers did not work from home, but rather from single
premises, or factory, owned by the capitalist.
Capitalism

– These transformations, of the place and nature of work,

lead to yet another fundamental change in social
relations.
– Society rapidly evolved into two clearly defined social
classes, the industrial capitalist and the waged worker.
TO BE CONTINUED.