ABSTRACT
capitalism. The term refers to a form of industrial society in which the greater part of economic life has the following characteristics: the concentration and control of the means of economic production (capital) is in the hands of private (i.e. non-governmental) owners; resources and wealth are acquired through the operation of a free market; labour is performed by legally free workers who sell their services on the market; and, the maximization of profit is the goal and stimulus of economic activity.
