Re: Smith's non-laissez faire doctrine

[Allin Cottrell <cottrell@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

On Fri, 28 Jan 1994, Jim Devine wrote:

> Can anyone think of any good, juicy, quotes from Adam Smith's WEALTH OF
> NATIONS  or THEORY OF MORAL SENTIMENTS, that clearly states his  non-
> belief in laissez-faire, at least in the crudest possible kinds of
> laissez-faire? or clearly states his criticism of the market system or
> capitalism?
>
What about, for one, Smith's remarks on the effect of the division
of labor on the worker, in the absence of public education?  See
TWN, Cannan ed., Bk V, pp. 734-5.  The detail worker "generally
becomes as stupid and ignorant as it is possible for a human
creature to become" etc.  Marx quotes this approvingly in
Capital, I, ch. 14.  There's also the stuff (Cannan, p. 66) on
the struggle between "workmen" and "master" over wages, with a
classical "power" argument (cf. D. Henwood) for why the "master"
has the upper hand.

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Allin Cottrell
Department of Economics
Wake Forest University
cottrell@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
(910) 759-5762
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