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Capital is a type of good that can be consumed now, but if consumption is deferred an increased supply of consumable goods is likely to be available later. Adam Smith defines capital as "That part of a man's stock which he expects to afford him revenue is called his capital." Capital is derived from the Latin word "caput" meaning head, as in "head of cattle". The term "stock" is derived from the Old English word for stump or tree trunk, i.e. something that grows over time.〔(【引用サイトリンク】 Wiktionary )〕 It has been used to refer to all the moveable property of a farm since at least 1510.〔(【引用サイトリンク】 Online Etymology Dictionary )〕 In Middle Ages France contracted leases and loans bearing interest specified payment in heads of cattle. In economics, capital goods, real capital, or capital assets are already-produced durable goods or any non-financial asset that is used in production of goods or services. How a capital good is maintained or returned to its pre-production state varies with the type of capital involved. In most cases capital is replaced after a depreciation period as newer forms of capital make continued use of current capital non profitable. It is also possible that advances make an obsolete form of capital practical again. Capital is distinct from land (or non-renewable resources) in that capital can be increased by human labor. At any given moment in time, total physical capital may be referred to as the capital stock (which is not to be confused with the capital stock of a business entity). In a fundamental sense, capital consists of any produced thing that can enhance a person's power to perform economically useful work—a stone or an arrow is capital for a caveman who can use it as a hunting instrument, and roads are capital for inhabitants of a city. Capital is an input in the production function. Homes and personal autos are not usually defined as capital but as durable goods because they are not used in a production of saleable goods and services. In classical economic schools of thought, particularly in Marxist political economy, capital is money used to buy something only in order to sell it again to realize a financial profit. For Marx capital only exists within the process of economic exchange—it is wealth that grows out of the process of circulation itself, and for Marx it formed the basis of the economic system of capitalism. In more contemporary schools of economics, this form of capital is generally referred to as "financial capital" and is distinguished from "capital goods". ==In narrow and broad uses== Classical and neoclassical economics regard capital as one of the factors of production (alongside the other factors: land and labour). All other inputs to production are called intangibles in classical economics. This includes organization, entrepreneurship, knowledge, goodwill, or management (which some characterize as talent, social capital or instructional capital). This is what makes it a factor of production: * The good is not used up immediately in the process of production unlike raw materials or intermediate goods. (The significant exception to this is depreciation allowance, which like intermediate goods, is treated as a business expense.) * The good can be produced or increased (in contrast to land and non-renewable resources). These distinctions of convenience have carried over to contemporary economic theory.〔 Paul A. Samuelson and William D. Nordhaus (2004). ''Economics'', 18th ed. 〕〔 Glossary of Terms, "Capital (capital goods, capital equipment)." • Deardorff's Glossary of International Economics, (Capital. ) 〕 There was the further clarification that capital is a stock. As such, its value can be estimated at a point in time. By contrast, investment, as production to be added to the capital stock, is described as taking place over time ("per year"), thus a flow. Marxian economics distinguishes between different forms of capital: * constant capital, which refers to capital goods * variable capital, which refers to labor-inputs, where the cost is "variable" based on the amount of wages and salaries are paid throughout the duration of an employee's contract/employment, * fictitious capital, which refers to intangible representations or abstractions of physical capital, such as stocks, bonds and securities (or "tradable paper claims to wealth") Earlier illustrations often described capital as physical items, such as tools, buildings, and vehicles that are used in the production process. Since at least the 1960s economists have increasingly focused on broader forms of capital. For example, investment in skills and education can be viewed as building up human capital or knowledge capital, and investments in intellectual property can be viewed as building up intellectual capital. These terms lead to certain questions and controversies discussed in those articles. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Capital (economics)」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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