Capitalism grow up the Origin of Economic InstitutionsTo the degree that they exist， freedom and the pursuit of material self-interest， operating in a rational cultural environment， are the foundation of all the other institutions of And the study of these institutions and their functioning is the substance of the science of If individuals both possess freedom and， at the same time， rationally desire to improve their lives and well-being， then they have only to use their minds to look at reality， consider the various opportunities that nature and the existence of other people offer them for serving their self-interest， and choose to pursue whichever of the opportunities confronting them they judge They can do whatever they judge is most in their self-interest to do， provided only that they do not initiate the use of force against What people do in these circumstances is spontaneously to set about establishing， or extending and reinforcing， all the other institutions， in addition to freedom and limited government， that constitute a capitalist economic system， such as private ownership of the means of production， saving and capital accumulation， exchange and money， division of labor， and the price Thus， in pursuing their rational self-interest under freedom， they appropriate previously unowned land and natural resources from nature and make them into private property and thus privately owned means of Private property in products， including capital goods， then follows on the basis of private property in land and natural resources: the owners of land and natural resources own the products that result from them， including those which they use as means of further In addition， of course， they can exchange their products with others for These others then also own products， including capital goods， and can， of course， obtain land and natural resources from their original owners by means of purchase or， in primitive conditions， barter In sum， capitalism， with its economic progress and prosperity， is the economic system of a free It is the economic system people achieve if they have freedom and are rational enough to use it to benefit As I have said， it represents a self-expanded power of human reason to serve human
