Capitalism

Capitalism is an economic system that values private ownership of property and relatively unlimited trade and competition. As an analytic term, capitalism is most meaningful when used in contrast to the idea of a planned economy. In the West, capitalism emerged at the end of the medieval period (around the late 15th century) when the feudal system began to disintegrate. Although some would define capitalism as a system based on individual property rights, the history of this economic system has demonstrated increasing centralization of capital as a recurring tendency