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Karl Marx Vs Adam Smith Essay

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Society is in a constant process of changing social and economic systems as a result of new technologies, cultures and ideologies/criticisms. In relation to changes in society, the 18th century gave birth to a monumental point in history called the Industrial Revolution that impacted all aspects of society including social, political and especially economical progressions. From this period onward it gave rise to Adam Smith and Karl Marx who are two of the most well known historical economic theorists today. It is important to note that these two economists are from two different time periods as Smith’s work was prominent during the 18th century and Marx’s work during the 19th century. This meant that although having the same frame of reference-the industrial revolution each economist would have some …show more content…

All in all, both Smith and Marx share some similar qualities in their perspective towards the rise of the Industrial Revolution and more specifically capitalism and production. Next, when comparing Smith and Marx, it is evident that there are more differences than there are similarities in regards to their philosophies towards the Industrial Revolution and changing economy. To begin, Adam Smith also known as the Father of Capitalism and founder of Western Economics is best recognized as the writer of The Wealth of Nations (Smith, 1863). Through his works, it is clear that he approved of the capitalist system seeing it as a system that helped bring the Industrial Revolution. He saw private ownership as a necessity for development, all of which his ideas were based around “Laissez Faire”, “Invisible Hand” and “Free Market” economics (Smith, 1863). On the other hand, Karl Marx can also be seen as a founder, being the Father of Communism as a

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From 1790 to the late 1800’s, the Industrial Revolution recreated industry as Europe knew it with ground-breaking inventions and mass-producing factories. The Industrial Revolution widened the social gap with the bourgeoisie on a pedestal and the proletariat baring the weight of being the work class that would make the Industrial Revolution happen; this strife would lead to many riots and revolutions across Europe as many men like Karl Marx would develop solutions to the proletarian’s problems such as communism. The question arose of how the proletariat were to rebel against the bourgeoisie. The fact was that a revolution was inevitable.

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In this paper, I discuss how Karl Marx, Adam Smith, and Andrew Carnegie agreed and disagreed about the concepts of capitalism with different standpoints. For example, Karl Marx mainly focused on the function of communism; Adam Smith emphasized the free trade in market, and Andrew Carnegie adopted the form of capitalism. I further explain the different perspectives of capitalism that impacted on society, and social and economic situation. The word, capitalism, is defined as an economic and political system in which a country’s trading business and industrial activities are made by private ownerships or corporations through the means of production, distribution, and social wealth. In 19th century, as the development of Industrial Revolution

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Wealth of Nations by Adam Smith and “Communist Manifesto” by Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels both address selfishness and its effect on society through social and economic means. In Wealth of Nations, Smith defines wealth as the productivity of a nation and the aspects of a commercial society. “The Communist Manifesto” criticizes the idea behind a capitalist society and talks about the class struggle between the working class and the owners of the means of production. Wealth of Nations and “The Communist Manifesto” both analyze how the selfishness of people affects society, however while Wealth of Nations claims selfishness causes increased productivity and increases wages for all, “The Communist Manifesto” argues that selfishness causes injustice

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Both Jean-Baptiste Colbert (1619-1683) and Adam Smith (1723-1790) sought to increase the wealth of their respective countries. How did their recommendations differ? Adam Smith and Colbert both wanted to increase the wealth off their nation, but had different economic ideas. Smith believes the "laissez- faire" idea that was based on economic freedom, when Colbert believed in mercantilism that was based on restrictions and control. However, both ideas were capitalistic and led to one result: improvement of economy and wealth of the state.

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A Market Economy significantly reflects the principles of liberalism due to a Market Economy primarily advocating individualist beliefs. The capitalist system is constructed fundamentally from the beliefs of Adam Smith and Herbert Spencer, both economic philosophers who publicly supported the idea of recognizing the worth of individuals and their rationality. Both philosophers during their time, promoted the idea of competition among individuals to as a result, allow individuals to pursue their own personal well-fare without government interference. Therefore, Smith's and Spencer's beliefs severely consisted on the right side of the economic spectrum, therefore, inducing their beliefs to mirror the principles associated to a liberalist ideology.

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He believes that the wealth of the nation is increased by the increase of production, the increase of trade, improvement of technology, and expansion of the nation’s market. He believes that all of these things can be the result of division of labor between different classes. I think that Adam Smith would agree more with Ure because these ideas align with the support of industrial capitalism, which is what Ure believed in as well. Even though Smith and Ure may not agree with industrial capitalism for the same reasons, they were both still supporters of it, whereas Marx was not as much of a

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Adam Smith, an advocate of capitalism, in his book, The Wealth of Nations wrote that all individuals are selfish and by performing to the best of their capabilities towards their own selfish interests they contribute towards the nation’s collective growth. Karl Marx, on the other hand criticized capitalism and believed that socialism and communism are society’s best chance of maximizing individual happiness, about which he wrote in his book Das Kapital. In this paper, we will compare and contrast the economics theories of Adam Smith and Karl Marx on the lines of labor theory of value, division of labor, alienation of workers from labor and human happiness and surplus profit and its social implications. This paper will also discuss how… Adam Smith believes that there are two types of ‘values’ of a commodity – ‘utility value’ and ‘exchange value’. The utility value of a commodity is based on how useful a commodity is and the exchange value of a commodity refers to how much we can get in exchange for a commodity if we were to sell it.

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Karl Marx was a German philosopher and economist in the 18th century. He is known for his book the Communist Manifesto that was published in 1848. Marx believed that a revolution of the working classes would over throw the capitalist order and creates a classless society. The Industrial Revolutions led to the proletarianization; his partner Friedrich Engels explained why the changes created by the proletarianization of the worker would develop into a huge problem for industrial societies. I do believe that Karl Marx’s vision of communism in the Communist Manifesto could re-emerge as a popular and workable philosophy of social, economic, and political organization.

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