1. Economic “-ism” Introduction
A Crash Course

2. Feudalism Relationships between the landowner and the serfs
Serfs bound to the land
Landowner gives protection in exchange for work on the land
No social movement
Notable examples: Medieval Europe

3. Mercantilism Government controls foreign trade
Ensures prosperity and security of a state
Drove colonial expansion
No export of specie (gold, silver, etc.)
Notable examples: Imperialist Western Europe, i.e. France, Great Britain, Portugal, Spain

4. Capitalism
First theorist, Adam Smith, An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations
Free market (laissez-faire) economies are more beneficial and productive for societies
Means of production are privately owned and operated for profit
Notable Examples: United States, Great Britain, Japan, Republic of Korea (each with elements of socialism)

5. Communism
First theorists, Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels, The Communist Manifesto
Aims for a classless and stateless society
Communal ownership of the means of production
Free access to all
No wage labor and no private property
Proletariat (working class) will rise up and overthrow the bourgeoisie (middle and aristocratic class)
Notable examples: Union of Soviet Socialist Republic, People’s Republic of China (officially), Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (founding ideology, rejected now)

6. Socialism
Means of production can be state owned or commonly owned, controlled cooperatively
Production for use, economic inputs for economic demands and human needs
Goods sold through markets
Income distributed through individual merit/individual contribution
Centrally planned economies directed by a single-party state that owns the means of production
Some experiments with state ownership models and free market exchange and free price system (China in the late 70s to the present)
Notable examples: Scandinavian countries, many western European countries

8. Two Cows
Socialism: You have two cows. The government takes one and gives it to your neighbor.
Communism: You have two cows. You give them to the government, and the government gives you milk.
Capitalism: You have two cows. You sell one and buy a bull.
Naziism: You have two cows. The government shoots you and takes the cows.