Who Designed Capitalism For Whom, And Why Is Africa Struggling with Capitalism?

In this video, I made the argument that no one created capitalism for any particular people. It evolved over thousands of years of economic interactions.

Capitalism was not designed for Anyone in Particular, But It Works for Everyone Who uses it correctly.

Adam Smith is credited with formulating the theory of free-market capitalism in The Wealth of Nations (1776), but he did not create it for practice.

The practice of markets and capitalism developed much earlier, evolving gradually:
• Ancient and Medieval roots – Markets, private property, and trade existed in ancient Mesopotamia, Greece, Rome, and medieval Europe.
• Mercantilist era (16th–18th centuries) – European nations encouraged trade and colonization, but governments heavily regulated commerce.
• Dutch Republic (17th century) – Often considered the first society to practice something close to modern capitalism, with the world’s first stock exchange (Amsterdam, 1602) and the Dutch East India Company, a joint-stock corporation.
• England (18th century) – The Industrial Revolution, private ownership, and liberalized trade policies made Britain the first large-scale practitioner of capitalism.

In short, Adam Smith provided the intellectual framework in 1776, but the Dutch Republic in the 1600s is often considered the first real-world practitioner of free-market capitalism.

Here are the core principles of free-market capitalism:
1. Private Property Rights
2. Voluntary Exchange
3. Competition
4. Profit Motive
5. Consumer Sovereignty
6. Limited Government Intervention
7. Rule of Law
8. Supply and Demand
9. Capital Accumulation and Investment.
10. Innovation and Entrepreneurship

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