Neha Patil (Editor)

Actually existing capitalism

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Actually existing capitalism or really existing capitalism is a term meant to be ironic and is used by critics of capitalism in general or neoliberalism specifically. Actually existing capitalism is used to point out that many economies that claim to practice capitalism, which tends to be characterized by a laissez-faire free market system, in fact have significant state intervention and partnerships between private industry and the state. The term mixed economy is also used to describe economies with these attributes. The main idea behind Actually Existing Capitalism is to point out that capitalism does not exist in the way capitalism is typically defined, nor is it desirable that capitalism exist in the form it is typically defined.

While many countries use a market based system, many of these countries use several forms of regulations to avoid economic problems such acute commodities fluctuations, financial market crashes, monopolies, and environmental protections.

Contemporary Marxists claim that several of Karl Marx's prediction of the future of capitalism became true since the government's controls and regulations now play a big part in the capitalists countries economies.

References

Actually existing capitalism Wikipedia