Essay for Week 5
Adam Smith, Karl Marx and Lenin were influential figures and economic thinkers whose ideas have affected the world’s economy for many generations and in many ways. They all had expressed their analysis and theories of Capitalism in their past works. However, the dynamics of capitalism in their theories change; and their views on whether capitalism is optimal or not also differ. The next paragraphs will examine how each thinker evaluates capitalism, their reasons and influences on modern economic thinking.
Adam Smith is considered “the father of capitalism” who theorizes about the nature of Capitalism in his renowned work “The Wealth of Nations”. Smith advocates for a system where “every man for himself” and stressed the importance …show more content…
Marx finds the labor or production aspect of capitalism troublesome and thinks that capitalism is the source and reason of an ill society. Marx insists that with capitalism, the poor will get poorer and the rich will keep getting richer as workers being exploited and dehumanized by capitalists or factory owners. He believed that in such capitalism market, workers would get paid minimal wages since the rich or owners are in higher bargaining position to negotiate wage prices and workers, in order to avoid starving, would have to accept that low wages and work intensively. Marx also fears that workers would be forced to overwork to death and would be alienated from the society and from the human race as they labors multiple hours per day. Marx’s critique of capitalism also associates closely with his labor theory of value. Marx discovers that in a capital market, workers produce more than they earn and the capitalists enjoy that profit. Therefore, in Marx’s mind, an ideal economic system would be fairer and more equitable than a capitalism system with competition, private property and minimal government …show more content…
Lenin’s theory of imperialism further elaborates on Marx’ s view. He used Marx’s class struggle and production to explain the international effect of rich industrial countries have on poorer countries through the channels of finance and production structures. Lenin asserts that the reason capitalist countries can delay the revolution of the poor is by acquisition of colonies, expanding the class size of exploited workers. Through this way, the capitalist economies can outlet their surplus of capital, dispose unconsumed goods, obtain cheap resources while making those colonies dependent on them. “As capitalist economies mature, as capital accumulates, and as profit rates fall, the capitalist economies are compelled to seize colonies and create dependencies to serve as markets, investment outlets, and sources of food and raw materials. In competition with one another, they divide up the colonial world in accordance with their relative
Adam Smith, Karl Marx and Lenin were influential figures and economic thinkers whose ideas have affected the world’s economy for many generations and in many ways. They all had expressed their analysis and theories of Capitalism in their past works. However, the dynamics of capitalism in their theories change; and their views on whether capitalism is optimal or not also differ. The next paragraphs will examine how each thinker evaluates capitalism, their reasons and influences on modern economic thinking.
Adam Smith is considered “the father of capitalism” who theorizes about the nature of Capitalism in his renowned work “The Wealth of Nations”. Smith advocates for a system where “every man for himself” and stressed the importance …show more content…
Marx finds the labor or production aspect of capitalism troublesome and thinks that capitalism is the source and reason of an ill society. Marx insists that with capitalism, the poor will get poorer and the rich will keep getting richer as workers being exploited and dehumanized by capitalists or factory owners. He believed that in such capitalism market, workers would get paid minimal wages since the rich or owners are in higher bargaining position to negotiate wage prices and workers, in order to avoid starving, would have to accept that low wages and work intensively. Marx also fears that workers would be forced to overwork to death and would be alienated from the society and from the human race as they labors multiple hours per day. Marx’s critique of capitalism also associates closely with his labor theory of value. Marx discovers that in a capital market, workers produce more than they earn and the capitalists enjoy that profit. Therefore, in Marx’s mind, an ideal economic system would be fairer and more equitable than a capitalism system with competition, private property and minimal government …show more content…
Lenin’s theory of imperialism further elaborates on Marx’ s view. He used Marx’s class struggle and production to explain the international effect of rich industrial countries have on poorer countries through the channels of finance and production structures. Lenin asserts that the reason capitalist countries can delay the revolution of the poor is by acquisition of colonies, expanding the class size of exploited workers. Through this way, the capitalist economies can outlet their surplus of capital, dispose unconsumed goods, obtain cheap resources while making those colonies dependent on them. “As capitalist economies mature, as capital accumulates, and as profit rates fall, the capitalist economies are compelled to seize colonies and create dependencies to serve as markets, investment outlets, and sources of food and raw materials. In competition with one another, they divide up the colonial world in accordance with their relative