[PEN-L:11677] Adam Smith

[Louis N Proyect <lnp3@xxxxxxxxxxxx>]

>      In "The Wealth of Nations," published 221 years ago, Smith
> wrote with realism about manufacturers and merchants. He
> described them as "men whose interest is never exactly the same
> with that of the public, who have generally an interest to
> deceive and even to oppress the public, and who accordingly have,
> upon many occasions, both deceived and oppressed it."
>

The comments on Adam Smith by Norman Solomon of FAIR jibes with the
analysis presented by David McNally in "Against Market Socialism" where he
says:

"The Wealth of Nations rings with an indignant attack on these capitalist
groups. Smith denounces 'the mean rapacity, the monopolizing spirit of
merchants and manufacturers'; he condemns their 'impertinent jealousy' and
their 'interested sophistry'. He compares these groups to 'an overgrownn
standing army' which attempts to 'intimidate the legislature' into
erecting 'the sneaking arts of underlying tradesmen' into 'political
maxims for the conduct of a great empire'. Indeed, Smith believed that
these groups had managed to construct a set of monopolistic practices--the
mercantile system--which depressed wages and rents by boosting profits and
prices. On top of this, Smith accuses mercantilism of diverting investment
away from those areas where it generates the most employment--agriculture
and local manufactures--and into areas such as overseas trade which
generates less employment. Mercantilism thus reduces national wealth,
defined as it is by Smith in terms of the real level of consumption of the
labouring poor."

Louis Proyect