Hacker News new | past | comments | ask | show | jobs | submit login

Could you elaborate? What does it mean to have non free market capitalism, or non capitalist free markets?



I try to use following definitions (of course, both are fuzzy and apply only to some extent in real world):

Free market: A system where the goods are distributed based on prices set through the market mechanism. In particular, anybody can produce and buy anything.

Capitalism: A system where there is a private ownership of capital and human labor is being sold/bought for a price.

So yeah, in theory, you can have free market without capitalism (for example everybody works for a worker cooperative), and capitalism (almost) without free market (there are distinct capitalists and worker classes, and market is heavily regulated or subsidized from the state).


Non-free market capitalism or heavily restrained free market capitalism is basically the programme of the far-right these days in a lot of countries. On the other side, you have Market Socialists (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Market_socialism).


Free markets do require capitalism, but capitalism (as defined by using monetary capital as the primary resource) can unfortunately also operate in various less than free modes.




Consider applying for YC's Spring batch! Applications are open till Feb 11.

Guidelines | FAQ | Lists | API | Security | Legal | Apply to YC | Contact

Search: