In practice, though, there is no such thing as pure competition. Under real competition within capitalism companies are rivals for sales and profits. This leads them to introduce cost-cutting technologies, to innovate in product design and performance, and to use packaging to make products more attractive for customers. Companies also offer assurances of security to imperfectly informed consumers, such as money-back guarantees or product warranties. They also build customer loyalty through investing in their brand names and reputations.
If a company is successful in adopting these techniques of rivalry, it is growing, and eventually may come to dominate its industry, though usually only for a few years until other firms find better ways of satisfying consumer demands. Neither rivalry nor product differentiation occurs under perfect competition, but they happen constantly under real flesh-and-blood capitalism.
These rivalry and product differentiation account for the major benefits of capitalism, where luxuries are quickly transformed into necessities. Quite recently, microwave ovens, videocassette recorders, answering machines, personal computers, sophisticated cameras, and compact disc players were available to only a few. Now lots of people can afford those.
Giant corporations are the main feature of modern capitalism. They attract capital from thousands and even millions of investors who may not know each other, but who entrust their money to managers in exchange for a share of the resulting profits. So, investment and management have become two distinct elements of modern capitalism, and giant corporations have become a good proof of the ability of individuals to engage in large-scale, long-range cooperation for their mutual benefit and enrichment.
A fully free economy, though, never has existed, as governmental authorities have always been playing a more or less active, interventionist role in regulating national economies.
Слова и выражения:
adopt – принимать
afford – позволить (себе)
assumption – предположение
assurance – обеспечение, гарантия
available – доступный
benefit – выгода
constantly – постоянно
custom – обычай
defender – защитник
defensible – подлежащий защите
define – определять
differentiation – дифференциация