Introduction
Capitalism contributes significantly to the development of the personal property ownership of investors. The main goal for many capitalistic investors is to make more profits in their businesses. Capitalism is the process of trading where people own properties and businesses privately. They may also hold essential capital goods and supply their products and services through the market economy approach rather than the central economy. A central economy, also planned or command economy, is a state in which people engage in activities managed by the central government and are societal. The British economy applies the capitalist approach in many of its businesses since it allows free market transactions, and the firms control many factors of production privately. The report highlights how Brexit affected the continuity of the growth of financial markets. It discusses the nature and characteristics of Britain’s capitalism by outlining its history and how the principal city, London, plays a critical role in the spread of capitalism.
The City of London
The city of London hosts the world’s largest financial market hence promoting the growth of capitalism. Many financial traders have offices in the city and engage with other traders to make money. Moreover, London is the financial district hosting many financial institutions like head offices for banks, brokerage firms, savings unions, and many more. London provides a conducive environment for financial traders to conduct their duties freely by allowing them to meet at specific places (Christie and Wieser, 2020). The traders access resources quickly since other stakeholders know what traders need to push their agenda, thus providing these goods and services that traders demand their comfortability. The environment is also secure from theft and other unfavourable activities for financial trading. The city of London came into existence after the Roman invasion, playing the centre’s role for power and administration. With time, the city hosted many coffee shops where financial traders sat to trade, thus influencing the city’s development. Therefore, the city of London is influential in Britain’s growth in the number of influential capitalists.
The Neoliberalism Turn
British capitalism contains high liberalized markets for labour and finance. Capitalism affects businesses and influences workers’ spirit because the worker with the most effort earns the highest wages and salaries. Thus, many employees get motivated to work harder than others to generate more income (Anwar and Graham, 2020). Self-interests are the driving forces of capitalism since many make the business perform better, immersing more wealth for the owners. Neoliberalism affects many companies by creating policies that lead their actions. The most common approaches include eliminating price controls, deregulating the capital markets, lowering trade barriers, and reducing government interference in trade activities. Neoliberalism promotes capitalism since individuals easily join the needs of their choice and engage in activities that benefit them the most. Neoliberalism affects the number of traders in a market by increasing their number through free entry and exit to the market policy that gives people the freedom to trade openly. British capitalism grows since traders have the freedom to join the market that fits them and may make independent decisions on the size of risks they may engage themselves.
The Post Financial Crisis – Brexit
Additionally, another factor that has shaped the nature of British capitalism is Brexit. Brexit is the United Kingdom’s exit from the United Nations (Krzyżanowski, 2019. p. 482). The move left many people unemployed by making them lose jobs as finance officers. Unemployment increases since capitalists want to reduce the cost of labour since there is a decrease in the number of profits they make from the trades (Robinson, 2019. p. 161). Others are directly sacked from their jobs since their contributions to the size of returns reduce. Capitalists rely on the number of profits they make to determine the extent of labour they employ. Brexit negatively influenced many businesses in Britain. Some international investors opt to leave the country for others that function by the United Nation’s laws. Specialists speculated that Brexit would significantly affect the state of London City and its participation in financial trade because it hosts the world’s largest financial markets.
The industrial revolution contributed to the growth of capitalism in Britain since it influenced many sectors, such as the agricultural and business areas. The industrial revolution significantly contributed to slavery (Inikori, 2020. p. 61). Whereas some people supported slavery, others argued that the employment of people for freewill influenced business growth since people worked more to gain higher income. Freewill employment motivated employees to work harder and produce more. Such a career significantly boosted the development of capitalism by influencing employee motivation. Apart from the division of labour and specialization, competitive market dynamics, the importance of the shareholder value, and high relations are other essential characteristics of British capitalism.
Conclusion
British capitalism was influenced by the industrial revolution and the invasions by the Romans. Capitalism affects the growth and development of states by influencing business people to invest in privately-owned capital goods. The investments in such areas attract high profits and increase the demand for more opportunities to create wealth. Financial markets in Britain are located in London, where excellent financial facilities such as head offices of banks and the Central Bank of Britain exist. London hosts the world’s most significant number of financial investors and influences effective decisions made in the world regarding financial management practices. British capitalism continues to expand since many people gain knowledge about financial management and identify their roles in such investment opportunities.
Reference List
Anwar, M. A., & Graham, M. (2020) ‘Hidden transcripts of the gig economy: Labour agency and the new art of resistance among African gig workers’, Environment and Planning A: Economy and Space, 52(7), pp.1269-1291. Web.
Christie, R., & Wieser, T. (2020). The European Union’s post-Brexit reckoning with financial markets (No. 2020/08). Bruegel Policy Contribution. Web.
Inikori, J. E. (2020) ‘Atlantic slavery and the rise of the capitalist global economy, Current Anthropology, 61(S22), S159-S171. Web.
Krzyżanowski, M. (2019) ‘Brexit and the imaginary of ‘crisis’: a discourse-conceptual analysis of European news media’, Critical Discourse Studies, 16(4), 465-490. Web.
Pardo-Guerra, J. P. (2019). Automating finance: infrastructures, engineers, and the making of electronic markets. Cambridge University Press. Web.
Robinson, W. I. (2019) ‘Global capitalist crisis and twenty-first-century fascism: beyond the Trump hype’, Science & Society, 83(2), 155-183. Web.