Sarwat Jahan and Ahmed Saber Mahmud wrote an article “What Is Capitalism?” for the International Monetary Fund journal Finance & Development in 2015. Its main idea is based on the discussion of capitalism characteristics and its impact on the modern economy. The authors state that the development of free markets in society may have its shortages, but its implementation remains one of the best options for today’s business. In the chosen article, capitalism is defined as an economic system where private organizations control and manage their property regarding their interests. To understand its progress in society, it is important to remember several critical pillars, namely private property, competition, self-interest, and freedom of choice. Depending on the economies’ types, capitalism may influence human activities and business relationships differently. For example, in laissez-faire economies, no regulations are observed, while in mixed economies, markets dominate. State-guided, oligarchic, big-firm, and entrepreneurial forms of capitalism are determined by power concentration.
Despite the intention to introduce the best form of ownership and not challenge freedoms of choice, economists cannot come to the same conclusion. On the one hand, economic growth under capitalism is evident due to the inability to predict or avoid competition. On the other hand, inequality provokes controversies and questions the effectiveness of capitalism. Jahan and Mahmud believe that the same forces that lead to capitalism success could bring unforeseen problems and mention the necessity of the effective role distribution. The effectiveness of free markets can be detected only when the government has enough authority. If government policies are weak, a capitalist economy hardly achieves the desired outcomes and creates new social concerns. The essence of the authors’ argument is that debates on capitalism and equal wealth distribution never ends, with a number of critics and admires believing in the power of their positions.