Capitalism—— Economic system in which most of the means of production are privately owned, and production is guided and income distributed largely through the operation of markets. Capitalism has been dominant in the Western world since the end of mercantilism. (私有产权、自由竞争、市场机制、商业主义)
It was fostered by the Reformation, which sanctioned hard work and frugality, and by the rise of industry during the Industrial Revolution, especially the English textile industry (16th – 18th centuries). (宗教改革、劳动与节约是美德——价值观、信仰)
Unlike earlier systems, capitalism used the excess of production over consumption to enlarge productive capacity rather than investing it in economically unproductive enterprises such as palaces or cathedrals.(资本永恒的追求利润和不断增值)
The strong national states of the mercantilist era provided the social conditions, such as uniform monetary systems and legal codes, necessary for the rise of capitalism. (法律保护)
The ideology of classical capitalism was expressed in Adam Smith's Wealth of Nations (1776), and Smith's free-market theories were widely adopted in the 19th century. In the 20th century the Great Depression(大萧条使得
自由经济模式变化,亚当斯密的看不见的手失灵,需要ZF的干预,宏观经济学产生)effectively ended laissez-faire economics in most countries, but the demise of the state-run command economies of eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union (see communism) and the adoption of some free-market principles in China left capitalism unrivaled (if not untroubled) by the beginning of the 21st century.
(中国改革开放,在原有的僵化低效的计划经济体制内,开始引入自由市场机制,并实现像有国家宏观调控的自由市场体制的本质转型)
——————当前欧债危机、金融危机——1、全球经济失衡的表现?或者2、资本主义体制的缺陷、社会主义体制的某种优点