ABSTRACT
First capitalism must be defined. For the purpose it is sufficient to call it an advanced and industrialised society in which the greater part of economic activity is undertaken by privately-owned units, acting without interference by the state, and under the incentive of private profit. The necessity for planning and the discovery that it gave successful results, the detailed control of industry by government, the impetus to left-wing movements and reforms—these made it quite impossible for the system to revert, on either occasion, to the relative purity of pre-war days. Statism is the form of society which, in Britain at least, is in process of succeeding to capitalism. It represents, without doubt, an impressive advance as judged by Socialist standards. Its more effective control over the level of employment, and the consequent gain in stability and output, make it if not immune from, at least much less vulnerable to, the strains and stresses inherent in any industrial society.
