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capital (kap' · a · tal) n. |
Capital (Kap' · a · tal) n. |
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A factor of production—any tools or goods which are used to increase productivity. |
Money—especially very large sums of money controlled by very few people. |
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Examples: A stone-age arrowhead, a hammer, a clothes dryer, a workbench, a computer, a guitar, a factory, a road, a car, a tractor. |
Examples: Investments, Stocks, Bank Accounts, Real Estate, Bonds, Partnerships, anything that makes someone very wealthy. |
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The capital you use to make your work easier and more productive may belong to you (your vacuum cleaner), it may belong to a group of people of which you are a part (roads, parks, schools), or it may belong to someone else who lets you use it (your desk at work, the telephone network). |
The Capital owned or controlled by the super-wealthy is sometimes used (usually by others) to increase productivity, but much of the time it is used to acquire more Capital, or to increase the power of, influence the government in favor of, and to make others work for, those who own or control it. |
