国家垄断资本主义是马克思主义经济学者所使用的一个概念。列宁在1916年称，因私人垄断和资本主义经济的矛盾突显，自由资本主义已经无法适应资本主义的发展，为此资本主义国家政府将积极干预经济，从而使资本主义进入到国家垄断资本主义阶段。 从二战结束到二十世纪七十年代初期，西方资本主义国家盛行主张国家干预经济的宏观调控政策，并取得一定成果。七十年代初期，西方出现严重经济危机，各国立即适当调整，减少国家对经济的干预。

The theory of state monopoly capitalism was initially a Marxist doctrine popularised after World War II. Lenin had claimed in 1916 that World War I had transformed laissez-faire capitalism into monopoly capitalism, but he did not publish any extensive theory about the topic. The term refers to an environment where the state intervenes in the economy to protect large monopolistic or oligopolistic businesses from competition by smaller firms.