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发帖数: 38600 | 2 Adam Smith:
“The Labour and time of the poor is in civilised countries sacrificed to
the maintaining of the rich in ease and luxury. The Landlord is maintained
in idleness and luxury by the labour of his tenants. The moneyed man is
supported by his extractions from the industrious merchant and the needy who
are obliged to support him in ease by a return for the use of his money.
But every savage has the full fruits of his own labours; there are no
landlords, no usurers and no tax gatherers.”
Adam Smith has observed the ruling class are bone idle and are maintained by
the hard work of others, economics is going to be a huge problem.
We can see immediately that we have got things upside down.
Small state, raw capitalism trickles up and not down, and this was observed
in the real world of the 18th Century.
The trickle up of capitalism is achieved by:
1) Those with excess capital collect rent and interest.
2) Those with insufficient capital pay rent and interest.
Today’s aristocracy are maintained in a similar manner although they will
also have a wide range of investments to maintain them in ease and luxury.
Nothing has changed that much.
We lowered taxes on the wealthy and inequality soared, today’s assumption
of trickle down is obviously in error.
When we compensated for the trickle up of capitalism with strong progressive
taxation, we achieved the lowest levels of inequality in recorded history.
Capitalism contains a welfare state for the old (and current) leisure class
and you need to compensate for it.
The Classical Economists carried on observing the world around them.
Adam Smith:
"But the rate of profit does not, like rent and wages, rise with the
prosperity and fall with the declension of the society. On the contrary, it
is naturally low in rich and high in poor countries, and it is always
highest in the countries which are going fastest to ruin."
When rates of profit are high, capitalism is cannibalising itself by:
1) Not engaging in long term investment for the future
2) Paying insufficient wages to maintain demand for its products and
services
Adam Smith’s observation on profit gives us a huge insight into today’s
problems with growth and demand.
Wages aren’t high enough and excessive profit is being taken and passed out
as dividends ensuring insufficient re-investment and growth.
Amazon re-invests its profits and look how big it’s grown.
As far as economics goes, start again in the 18th Century where they
observed small state, raw capitalism in the world around them.
Understand the base of the system properly (raw capitalism free from almost
all interference) and work up to build something that works and will provide
for all. |
