Anarcho-capitalism
noun ·Rare ·Advanced level
Definitions
- 1 A political and economic philosophy that advocates the elimination of the state and other coercive institutions in favour of individual self-ownership, voluntary society, and free market. uncountable
"Laissez-faire capitalism, or anarchocapitalism^([sic]), is simply the economic form of the libertarian ethic. Laissez-faire capitalism encompasses the notion that men should exchange goods and services, without regulation, solely on the basis of value for value. It recognizes charity and communal enterprises as voluntary versions of this same ethic."
- 2 A political and socioeconomic system that ostensibly recognizes only individual self-ownership, voluntary society, and free market but not the state and other coercive institutions. uncountable
"The second was shock therapy. Implemented briefly in the aftermath of the Soviet collapse, shock therapy aimed to construct a free market in post-communist Russia. It produced instead a species of mafia-dominated anarcho-capitalism."
Example
More examples"Laissez-faire capitalism, or anarchocapitalism^([sic]), is simply the economic form of the libertarian ethic. Laissez-faire capitalism encompasses the notion that men should exchange goods and services, without regulation, solely on the basis of value for value. It recognizes charity and communal enterprises as voluntary versions of this same ethic."
Etymology
From anarcho- + capitalism. Earliest extant attestation is in American author Karl Hess's essay “The Death of Politics”, originally published by Playboy, in March 1969. Even though American economist Murray Rothbard is credited with coining this word, its first possible appearance among his writings is in his 1971 essay “Know Your Rights”, published two years after Hess's essay.
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Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.