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Originally Posted by cuetzpalin
the system isn't that bad.. just the all-i-want-is-your-fucking-money people..
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yeah!
those people always exist though, in all systems. In socialist systems, they are the leaders and bureaucrats.
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Originally Posted by ricechex
Hey, all i know is Adam Smith is turning over in his grave right now over his ideas of capitalism being so bastardized b/c it was about a nation's interests. We could use some good ol' nationalism in this area. It's the same old story when people with money and power at the top have free reign at the expense of the nations interest. That's why immigration is a disaster, outsourcing and the like..and right now the govt is in bed with these people..
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No, no, no, no, no. You couldn't be more wrong! Adam Smith crafted his treatise on the Wealth of Nations to illustrate all the reasons why nationalist economic systems don't work. The global economic system prior to Smith was one of mercantilism - in which nations hoarded gold and favored & protected their industries - often poorly performing ones. (we still have a lot of work to do in this area, as we continue to subsidize the hell out of a multitude of industries.)
You have to remember that he was writing in a time before global communication and travel was as easy as it is today. Back in his time, some global trading would have been much more difficult and much more expensive - the technology just didn't exist yet. He lived in an agrarian society, and his examples were skewed to that life. The principles that he argued have absolutely nothing to do with keeping economic systems within political boundaries.
Smith and David Ricardo showed us two things (among many more): first - that gold does not equal wealth, and second - the concept of comparative advantage. They showed us precisely why we shouldn't protect domestic industries if a peaceful trading partner could perform with lower opportunity costs. They both knew that nations are artificial, even though they didn't explicitly state it.
Smith was, on the other hand, very wary of capitalists - not the capitalist system though. He saw them as a necessary evil. He said we should always be concerned when capitalists meet together because it usually ends with them conspiring to raise prices. Smith also had some other anti-complete free market sentiments. Many people and economists agree with him, many don't.