My best shot Feudalism == Capitalism (specifically, unfettered capitalism). Seriously. Markets are where capital (ie. prior labour(yours or some one/thing els

My best shot Feudalism == Capitalism (specifically, unfettered capitalism). Seriously. Markets are where capital (ie. prior labour(yours or some one/thing else's)) is arbitraged for gain. The important part of this rather simplistic point is the arbitrage, it infers that the system is based on the twin concepts of demand and ownership, (or opportunity and opportunity-cost if you like). Capitalism is the word we use to describe the de-evolution of markets into the private ownership of the means of production. In other words, where enough asymmetrical arbitration has taken place to enable an entity to buy out the rights of someone else to own the profit (ie. the demand portion) from the fruits of their labour. The ultimate expression of this private ownership is the ownership of the people themselves, ergo Feudalism. Funnily, the last few centuries we attribute to the rise of capitalism, is actually the death throes of unfettered capitalism. See, the interesting thing about ownership it is a social compact, not a natural state. We can trade an item to both our benefits, only because we both agree that you own it and I do not. In a sense, the power IS the asymmetry in the arbitrage. Where this power is balanced between parties, we have free markets. Where it is not balanced, we have capitalism.