Replace 'capitalism' with 'market economy'. #1026
Conversation
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It would be best if someone knew a good citation listing all the types of market-based economic systems that exist (I don't know how exhaustive the list on Wikipedia is). |
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I think it is a worthwhile goal to use the language that best conveys the intended meaning. Unfortunately real life is messy, and we don't actually live in a world where true capitalism exists. For example, "too big to fail" banks do not operate in a truly capitalist environment because the government has shown that it won't let them fail. Similarly, I don't think Market Economy is the best term to use either because that is contrasted with Planned Economy which implies a central authority dictating how things are done. How do we reconcile this so we can convey what is truly meant? On first glance it seems to me that it would be better to use descriptive language rather than rely on nouns like "capitalism" or "market economy." For example, "in a system where profit used as the primary metric of success." Happy to talk about this more. |
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I think it should be discussed whether to replace the word 'capitalism' with the more generic but descriptive term 'market economy'. Because IIRC 'capitalism' refers to a specific type of market-based economy where most capital is privately owned, but other economic models that still retain the market mechanism do exist (eg. market socialism). So making the implicit assumption that 'market-based economy' necessarily equals 'capitalism' could be misleading.
(disclaimer: I am not an economist.)