Adapted Capitalism essays

Adapted Capitalism essays When capitalism first came about in North America, it was seen as a great chance for individuals with hopes and dreams of achieving wealth, which in all would benefit the nations society. Capitalism in practice showed us that it is not the best economic system to use, as a result the nations using capitalism asked their government to reform the structure of the system, leading to a completely different system. This new system had a mixture of capitalist and socialist ideas; therefore, it came to be known as a mixed-economic system. Many nations saw this as a much better economic method and switched over to it, from their original capitalist system. Was this a smart substitute, or were these nations better off with the capitalist economy? Adam Smith described a purely capitalist system emphasizing freedom, initiative, self-interest, competition, and profit. Hardworking citizens of many nations loved this idea and went with it. Capitalism, being free from economic restrictions and control, left a countrys government with little intervention, except their role to ensure a peaceful marketplace with economic competition (no monopolies) and private property rights guaranteed to individuals. The capitalist economy did have flaws, such as an economic event known as the business cycle, meaning the economy with go through periods of boom (good times) and bust (bad times). A clear example of this cycle happened in the United States, during the 1920s the economy was at its boom, but in 1929 when the stock market crashed, this signified the end of the boom, and the beginning of the terrible bust, known as the Great Depression. This terrible event, for which many could not find an explanation to, lead to an economic downfall and outburst of unemployment across the country. Citizens began to realize that the government was needed to help stabilize the economy, for this reason the mixed economy came to be. ...