why is capitalism so prevalent in the global economy?

Answer 1

Capitalism is just the name for an economic system where individuals are free to make choices about what they do, what they consume etc. Thus in a capitalist economy, each person gets to choose whether they want to become a plumber, a musician or a lawyer. They can also choose whether they would rather use their money to buy expensive food and live in a humpy or spend almost nothing on food and live in a mansion. Since it is based on the concept of individual freedom, capitalism typically goes hand in hand with democracy.

The main weakness of capitalism is that sometimes reward depends not only effort, but also on chance, and that if one generation works or gets lucky, then wealth and inequality can be passed from one generation to the next.

The alternative, is a planned or heavily regulated economy, where the government tries to determine what is in everyone's interests and distributes wealth according to what it considers to be fair. In practice, this often leads to corruption since the officials making these decisions usually think that they are entitled to more than everyone else. Also, because reward is not based on how hard you work, there is a tendency for workers to shirk their responsibilities and little incentive for innovation, so that average living standards tend to be lower over time.

It is rare to find an economy that is purely capitalit or purely planned. Even in most capitalist economies, governments still regulate some choices, especialy where they cause harm to others (eg you're not allowed to murder or to pollute a stream etc). They also usally have taxes that are designed to tax the wealthy proportionately more to provide social security to limit inequality. Therefore, the best outcome is a balance somewhere between the two extremes, with the optimal outcome ultimately being a subjective judgement. That said, and without wanting to expres a personal opinion, I would note that most democratic countries (as distinct from countries that just pretend to have democracy) do tend to be a towards the pure capitalist end of the spectrum. Then again, this could be because they also tend to be amoung the most wealthy countries.

Answer 2

John Smith in his book wealth of nations discusses how capitlism helps economies and countries. Capitalism is self interest and as Gordon Gecko says "greed is good." So if people are motivated to have more, or greedy, then capitalism allows people to gain wealth. With wealth comes happiness ot some or accomplishment. As such, people are self interested and because of self interest, capitalism is prevalent in a global economy.

Answer 3

Well, capitalism endorses a competitve global economy, which obviously enhances the general wealth and well being of the world. Capitalism is the best economical base if a nation wants to increase its revenue and just overall help their governmental stability as well. If you want more information, just IM me at Nirvana FIuid (thats an I not an L in fluid)

Answer 4

Greed$$$$$$$$$$$$

Answer 5

You get rewarded for what you contribute whether it is labor or intelligence. There is an incentive to do things. More people are productive and everyone wins.

Answer 6

because of free enterprise and mass production..everyone wants a piece of the pie

Answer 7

It allows people to get rich

Answer 8

Because people love $!

Answer 9

Unlike so many other systems; it works.