Tuesday, October 27, 2009

Does Capitalism = Happiness?

YES: Adam Smith, from An Inquiry Into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations, v. 1-2 (1869) 4
NO: Karl Marx and Freidrich Engels, from The Communist Manifesto (1848) 12
"If we will but leave self-interested people to seek their own advantage, Adam Smith argues, the result, unintended by any one of them, will be the greater advantage of all. No government interference is necessary to protect the general welfare. Karl Marx disagrees; leave people to their own self-interested devices, he replies, and those who by luck and inheritance own the means of production will rapidly reduce everyone else to virtual slavery. The few may be fabulously happy, but all other will live in misery."
Source: Taking sides: Clashing views in business ethics and society by Newton, L.H. & Ford, M.M.
QUESTION: With some executive salaries being cut by 90%, is there a case for a different form of capitalism? If so, what? Also, take the one question poll at http://blogs.bnet.com/intercom/?p=3151&tag=highlighted_insight.

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