Tag: Gavin Kennedy
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Origins of the Word ‘Capitalism’
Adam Smith's Lost Legacy: Origins of the Word 'Capitalism' … The word ‘Capitalism’ and its related term ‘Capitalist,’ were not “first derived in the English vernacular from a translation of the pejorative term used by Karl Marx” (though he certainly used them pejoratively in his writings). ‘Capitalism’ was a word and a phenomenon neither used…
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Self Interest and Selfishness
Adam Smith's Lost Legacy: Self Interest and Selfishness … [Adam] Smith had a fine sense of history and he knew the difference between self interest and selfishness. In fact, he gives over 70 other instances in the Books I, II, and III of Wealth Of Nations where individuals exercising their the self interest had consequences…
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Adam Smith’s “Invisible Hand”
Gavin Kennedy at Adam Smith's Lost Legacy tirelessly monitors representations of Adam Smith's writings in the media. The misuse of the "invisible hand" metaphor is one of the most frequent topics. Smith used the metaphor once in Theory of Moral Sentiments and once more in Wealth of Nations. It is an incidental reference in both…
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Markets versus Capitalism?
Adam Smith's Lost Legacy (Gavin Kennedy): Markets versus Capitalism? …I am often commenting on people’s assertion that Adam Smith wrote about capitalism and using the illustrative point that he never mentioned the word ‘capitalism’ as it was not invented in English until its use in 1854 by Makepeace Thackeray in his novel the Newcomes (Smith…
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Adam Smith in 800 Words
The China Post: Adam Smith: Economics can set you free (HT: Gavin Kennedy) Gavin Kennedy brands this post as the best presentation of Adam Smith's contribution to the world in 800 words or less. I maintain that Smith is one of the most misunderstood figures in the social sciences and is usually only understood in…
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Adam Smith Did Not ‘Invent’ Capitalism
Adam Smith's Lost Legacy (Gavin Kennedy): Adam Smith Did Not 'Invent' Capitalism …‘Capitalism’ as we know it was a phenomenon he knew nothing about. The word itself was not invented in English until 1854 by William Makepeace Thackeray in his novel, The Newcomes, and then popularised by Karl Marx. Adam Smith described his fourth age…
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Basic Errors About the Role of Adam Smith
Adam Smith's Lost Legacy (Gavin Kennedy): Basic Errors About the Role of Adam Smith …He observed, as he states many had done before him, that the division of labour raised the productivity of labour and was of long standing in its effects from hunting societies through to ‘modern’ societies based on commerce, agriculture and pasturage.…