State capitalism is usually described by left-wing economists as an economic system in which commercial (i.e.
for-profit) economic activity is undertaken by the
state, with management and organization of the
means of production in a capitalist manner, including the system of
capital accumulation,
wage labor, and centralized management.
[1] This designation applies to economies regardless of the political aims of the state, even if the state is nominally
socialist.
[2] State capitalism is characterized by the dominance of
state-owned business enterprises in the economy. Examples of state capitalism include
corporatized government agencies (agencies organized along corporate and business management practices) and states that own controlling shares of
publicly listed corporations (acting as a shareholder). The term "State capitalism" is almost never used by any group or state said to be engaged in it or advocating for it; rather it is usually used as criticism of states that named themselves socialist;
[2] for instance, many communist and Marxist tendencies argue that the
Soviet Union did not establish socialism, but rather established state capitalism.
[2][3]
