ELI5: Explain Like I'm 5

History of theory of capitalism

Okay kiddo, let’s talk about the history of capitalism. Capitalism is an economic system where people can own private property and businesses, and buy and sell goods and services for money. It’s different from other economic systems like communism, where the government owns everything and people work for the common good.

Capitalism started a long time ago, but let’s focus on when it really took off. In the 1700s, there was a big change in the way people made stuff. People started using machines instead of making things by hand, and this was called the Industrial Revolution. This made things cheaper to make, and people could sell them for more money.

At this time, a man named Adam Smith wrote a book called “The Wealth of Nations”. In it, he said that people should be free to make their own businesses and buy and sell things without anyone telling them what to do. He called this “free market capitalism”. He believed this would make everyone better off, because people would be able to make and sell things more efficiently.

Other people started thinking about capitalism too. A man named Karl Marx wrote a book called the “Communist Manifesto”. He thought capitalism was bad because it made rich people richer and poor people poorer. He wanted workers to overthrow the rich people and create a new system where everyone worked for the common good.

Despite this, capitalism became very popular around the world. Today, most countries have some form of capitalism as their economic system. Some people think capitalism is great because it creates wealth and helps people get rich. Others think it’s bad because it can create inequality and damage the environment.

So, in short, capitalism is an economic system where people can own private property and businesses, and buy and sell goods and services for money. It started during the Industrial Revolution in the 1700s, and was popularized by Adam Smith’s book “The Wealth of Nations”, which promoted the idea of free market capitalism. Despite criticisms from people like Karl Marx, capitalism remains popular around the world.