EconoTerms C

Capital
     The term capital encompasses many things. Basically it's anything used in production. It could be machinery, land, natural resources, even people (labor could be considered a form of capital). Capital can also refer to the money that is used to buy these things.

Capitalism
      A capitalist system is one in which anybody can own things, and can generally buy what they want in an attempt to get more money & resources. Also, capitalist systems depend on a good amount of competition (both on the buying end and the selling end) to keep prices at roughly the same level. A big debate in the 20th century has been whether the government should intervene to try to keep prices in the right range, or whether it should keep its hands off (laissez-faire).

Caveat emptor & Caveat venditor
       These weird Latin phrases basically mean "think before you do something stupid." Caveat emptor means "let the buyer beware" and means, if you're not careful, you'll get overcharged by greedy businessmen. Caveat venditor means "let the seller beware" and means, if you're not careful, you'll end up selling something way too cheap to greedy consumers. The moral of the story: people are greedy and try to take advantage of other people's lack of information (or common sense). Be careful... it's a dangerous market out there.

Corporation
A corporation is a business owned by a large group of stockholders, who have limited liability. In a smaller business, an owner has more liability, so if the business loses money the owner's personal funds must be used to pay off debts. In a corporation, investors are only liable for the amount of their investment, no more.

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