Problem with OED's First Use of "Capitalism"

[Victor Steinbok]

Sure--but not in association with capitalism.

     VS-)

On 3/24/2012 5:48 PM, Dan Goncharoff wrote:
> None of them have any relevance for early usage? I don't understand
> what you mean. Adam Smith would have understood all the concepts you
> mentioned.
>
> Sent from my iPhone
>
> On Mar 24, 2012, at 2:20 PM, Victor Steinbok<aardvark66 at GMAIL.COM>  wrote:
>
>> What I see here is "capitalist" as "banker" or "money lender", not
>> merely "investor", as is given in the OED definition. "Capitalists"
>> appear to be people who lend out "capital" and live off the returned
>> interest. "Investment" is particularized use of such capital to make
>> loans to businesses, usually in exchange for partial ownership of the
>> enterprise--too narrow for use here. The meaning of "capitalism" as
>> listed in the OED seems to be oddly unrelated to this particular use.
>>
>>> The possession of capital or wealth; an economic system in which
>>> private capital or wealth is used in the production or distribution of
>>> goods and prices are determined mainly in a free market; the dominance
>>> of private owners of capital and of production for profit.
>> Note that the "economic system", "use in production", "free market" and
>> "dominance of private owners" are all Marxian or anti-Marxian ideas.
>> None of them have any relevance for early usage.
>>
>>      VS-)
>>
>>

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