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Capitalism developed in the merchant cities of Northern Italy and the Low Countries in the late Middle Ages. These states were certainly regulated, some of thes
by trgn 10y ago
Capitalism developed in the merchant cities of Northern Italy and the Low Countries in the late Middle Ages. These states were certainly regulated, some of these regulations are recognizable to us (licensing requirements to practice trades, import taxes, trade barriers to certain countries, ...). Capitalism isn't the bedrock of humanity's economic interactions, it is a fairly recent economic model. It requires markets, private property (and its protection), individual agency to participate in contracts, what have you. These things didn't just emerge out of thin air, and they most certainly don't predate states and regulation.
- AdrianB1 10y agoAnd what for of economy did people use before Italy "invented" capitalism? Were ancient Greeks socialists? Were they communist? What where they using, planned state economy?
- ashark 10y ago"Capitalism" doesn't just mean "any system where trade for profit happens". It encompasses much more and implies the use of (and therefore invention and state sanction of) organizations like joint-stock companies and a much larger and more flexible credit system than what came before. Wikipedia is helpful here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_capitalism https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_capitalism
- bbctol 10y agoPlanned state economy might be pushing the usage of the word, but the government and economy were so intertwined in ancient Greek city states it's hard to call them capitalists. At the most extreme, they were palace economies, with all redistribution of goods done by the state, and most of them had the largest part of economic management handled at the agora.