Karl Marx Vs Adam Smith Essay
Adam Smith and Karl Marx created the foundation for economics in the 18th and 19th centuries. While they had very different ideals, both men started with the idea of capitalism. Adam Scott, author of The Wealth of Nations, believed that an economy was most productive when people are able to produce as much as they would like for the price that they deem fair. Contrarily, Karl Marx believed that capitalism would only serve for those who were already wealthy, as they would be able to increase their production and create more profit for themselves. The theories created by these men would shape the economy on a national and global scale.
Adam Smith, born in Scotland in the 1720s, attended school at The University of Glasgow as well as Balliol …show more content…
He originally went to school to study law but would later decide to go into economics instead. He wrote several books about communism such as The Communist League, The Poverty of Philosophy, and most notably, The Communist Manifesto. Marx opposed Smith’s ideas on capitalism, he thought that since the wealthy already had money, they had an unfair advantage as they could afford production costs while the lower class citizens had to sell their labor. The owning class was named “bourgeoisie” and the workers were named “proletariat”. Two groups who have different names , but still play the same roles in the economy. Marx believed that a communist society was inevitable but would not create a utopian society. He also thought that the natural change to communism would have to be a gradual one. Capitalism would turn to socialism during a proletarian revolution, and as private property was seized, it would be redistributed to the proletarians. However, a communistic society is often times very wasteful with resources and creates little to no monetary return without a market. If there is only one type of car to buy, no one can know whether or not a car is good because there is nothing to compare it to. The market creates a competition to create the best product, which in turn, propels the market forward. And without incentivising the people, no one cares to improve anything as they are not gaining anything from it.
These two
Adam Smith, born in Scotland in the 1720s, attended school at The University of Glasgow as well as Balliol …show more content…
He originally went to school to study law but would later decide to go into economics instead. He wrote several books about communism such as The Communist League, The Poverty of Philosophy, and most notably, The Communist Manifesto. Marx opposed Smith’s ideas on capitalism, he thought that since the wealthy already had money, they had an unfair advantage as they could afford production costs while the lower class citizens had to sell their labor. The owning class was named “bourgeoisie” and the workers were named “proletariat”. Two groups who have different names , but still play the same roles in the economy. Marx believed that a communist society was inevitable but would not create a utopian society. He also thought that the natural change to communism would have to be a gradual one. Capitalism would turn to socialism during a proletarian revolution, and as private property was seized, it would be redistributed to the proletarians. However, a communistic society is often times very wasteful with resources and creates little to no monetary return without a market. If there is only one type of car to buy, no one can know whether or not a car is good because there is nothing to compare it to. The market creates a competition to create the best product, which in turn, propels the market forward. And without incentivising the people, no one cares to improve anything as they are not gaining anything from it.
These two