ABSTRACT
For centuries, as modern economies developed, the hidden hands of the alert and powerful were busy structuring laws and property rights to gain, or retain, title to wealth-producing sectors of the economy. Stock markets, as well as patent laws, were being subtly structured to monopolize technology. Ownership of capital is considered proof that it was justly earned, and that the owner deserves compensation for its use. The basic difference between what is properly social capital and private capital is that social capital is used by everybody. It forms a natural monopoly, while proper private capital is used only to produce products or services for specific needs. Commercial activities other than building and operating basic infrastructure produce for variable individual needs rather than everybody's needs and are properly privately owned. Few economists agree on exactly what constitutes capital. Most include all wealth that produces a profit.
