Question

Our economic world today is very different from the world of Adam Smith (1776) and Karl Marx (1867) when they wrote their major economic works. Since then we have seen radical technological changes in production, the growth of transnational corporations, the end of the highly competitive economy of new businesses, the growth of the middle class in corporations and government (planners, analysts and technicians), and the origins of the liberal democratic institutions of government which, in most advanced capitalist countries, provide free public education, health care, prescription drug coverage, along with a wide assortment of services provided to all citizens regardless of their ability to pay.

Based on your experiences and understandings of capitalism today, who (either Adam Smith or Karl Marx) is the most relevant to our understandings of capitalism?

Answer 1

Answer) When I look at views on Capitalism of Adam Smith,I see how he viewed capitalism as a natural instict and how individuals would look for incentive and state intervention would make this process inefficient,Smith stated that people saw mutual benefit in what they were buying and were not simply exchanging something for another,Smith saw capital as a stock and people would work towards improving the return on that stock value while Marx saw capitalism as everything being measured in price ignoring the work and usefulness and treating almost everything as a commodity leading to disparity and not giving right wages to the worker who created the product.Now when I see capitalism,I see both concepts but a lot more of what Adam Smith stated wherein be it large level mergers/acquisitions or job negotiations people see a benefit and would only work if they see it as a best available alternative,now it may not be the best they are getting but it is according to them the best available there and thereby they go for it,similarly market works a lot better in terms of efficiency when there is less intervention and more facilitation,therefore,I would say Adam Smith 's approach to capitalism is more relevant to our understandings today.

Answer is complete.Thank you!