... like the construction of a road or a constitution What theories based on the work of Friedman and North miss is the idea of human agency in capitalism True, the evolution of the institutions of capitalism. .. and thereby shape our capitalist system of governance Such is the motive behind my own conception of capitalism, discussed below 20 Chapter – My Conception of Capitalism M y conception of capitalism. .. System of Governance, for a more thorough discussion of the origins of capitalism 23 THE CONCEPT OF CAPITALISM in 1689, that in France in 1789 and, later, the hostile takeover of parts of Germany