Capitalism

Capitalism is an economic system in which wealth, and the means of producing wealth, are privately owned.^[1][2] Through capitalism, the land, labor, and capital are owned, operated, and traded, without force or fraud, by private individuals either singly or jointly,^[3][4] and investments, distribution, income, production, pricing and supply of goods, commodities and services are determined by voluntary private decision in a market economy.^[5][6] A distinguishing feature of capitalism is that each person owns his or her own labor and therefore is allowed to sell the use of it to employers.^[3][7] In a "capitalist state", private rights and property relations are protected by the rule of law of a limited regulatory framework.^[8][9] In the modern capitalist state, legislative action is confined to defining and enforcing the basic rules of the market,^[8][9] though the state may provide some public goods and infrastructure.^[10]

Some consider laissez-faire to be "pure capitalism."^[11] Laissez-faire (French, "leave to do (by itself)"), signifies minimizing^[12] or eliminating state interference in economic affairs and the competitive process, allowing the free play of supply and demand. Laissez-faire capitalism has never existed in practice.^[11][13][14] Because all large economies today have a mixture of private and public ownership and control, some feel that the term "mixed economies" more precisely describes most contemporary economies.^[15][16] In the "capitalist mixed economy", the state intervenes in market activity and provides many services