Anarchy and Economy p2: Adam Smith

Economy and Anarchy series part 2. This part deals with Adam Smith, the hero of market anarchists. Unfortunately for them, Adam Smith was not by any means a market anarchist.

Part 1:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6VLVjXhu0kk

This will be a continuing series the point of which is to point out all the flaws with market anarchy, piece by piece.

Category:

Education

Tags:

• anarchy
• economy
• adam
• smith
• libertarian
• capitalism
• free
• market
• invisible
• hand

[solarpanel420]

"it is true that Adam amith was opposed to certain types of regulation" hahaha. thats the biggest understatement I have ever heard. Adam smith was against any and all government regulation in the economy. He said that it was absolutely impossible to allocate money in a way that would be more beneficial than the way the free market would have otherwised allow. You really need to read that book again man.

[neotropic9]

I guess you didn't watch the whole video.

[kaksonen]

though there is obvious merit in pursuing this line of reasoning, i think this is a poor argument for two reasons. you are too liberal with your use of anarchist in a global sense while attacking its individual meronyms, superstrates, and companion ideologies. also, if someone is to agree with a component of smith's arguments, they are not obligated to the whole of his system or dependent on denfense of each particular -- this isn't like arguing the inerrancy of the bible.

[neotropic9]

I don't think you have appreciated what I am trying to do with this series. The point is to break up the entire debate into easily digestible pieces. This video was intended for a very small and very specific purpose: to show that Adam Smith himself does not support market anarchy. That was it. I think you will agree that goal was accomplished. I will leave other lines of reasoning (and pursuing nuances etc) to other videos.

[erkd1]

Great video, although you forgot monopolization.

[neotropic9]

That's for a later video.

[aresius90]

" Adam smith was against any and all government regulation in the economy."

That's not incorrect but, incomplete. Adam Smith was against government regulation "in terms of strict market issues", but Smith, like Neotropic exposed, wrote that government must assure market's physical safety by the introduction of police forces and so on. If not, capitalists would never invest on the market cause it's unsafe for them and, most importantly, for their money ( that might be stolen,etc.) srry4english

[WestRiverHillBilly]

I do agree, though, that Adam Smith was not an Anarchist, nor would he support anarcho-capitalist philosophy.

[greenghost2008]

where anywhere has an anarcho-capitalist called adam smith a market anarchist? link please.

[GodOfTheInternets]

Anarchists are socialists. Libertarians are anarcho-communists. STOP TAPING WORDS bro.

[N0g0dzN0masterz]

Adam Smith is hardly a Hero for Anarchist. Also the invisible hand quote you need to read the hole quote. "By preferring the support of domestic to that of foreign industry, he intends only his own security; and by directing that industry in such a manner as its produce may be of the greatest value, he intends only his own gain, and he is in this, as in many other cases, led by an invisible hand to promote an end which was no part of his intention". in short local economy not global.

[JohnColt]

@mjuslen Milton certainly did claim to be a libertarian.

[JohnColt]

Your explanation of the invisible hand is incorrect. The invisible hand refers to idea that, in the market place, one inadvertently does good for others through the pursuit of one's own personal goals.

[mjuslen]

Since when is Adam Smith a hero of Anarchists? Of course he is a hero to free markets, but there are much more prominent economists who advocated little or no government intervention in markets. You make it sound as if anarchists and libertarians worship Adam Smith. No, they respect him because he was a prominent figure who inspired many free market economists. Milton Friedman was a major admirer of Adam Smith and he was no anarchist nor did he ever claim to be a libertarian.

[dons123111]

Notice how this video doesn't cite any pages or chapters. Adam Smith was against Tariffs and was a critic of Central Planning and Govt central power prefering local economics. These are Libertarian Ideas. True that Adam Smith was not a full Anarcho -Capitalist, That came later with Cobden and then Menger. Most Libertarians advocate the findings of Hayek and Mises and their worldy philosophy. Beware of this Fabian Socialist video who has twisted Adam Smith into their own.

[Nintendomanwill]

That's all well and good but what you're ignoring in Smith, what I would call the vital lesson of the WoN, is that law is not what creates wealth. True, that doesn't make him an anarchist. BUT do you think that the State in the 18th Century hampered the market as it does now? By today's standards Smith WAS near anarchism. Seriously. Study British legal history. Common Law virtually IS anarcho-capitalism. He railed against any & all Mercantilism so Central Banking & fiat currency would shock him.

[niemand2099]

the central governments don't get how free money destroys any market because in the real economy no sane investor or seller would give something for free or sell at 0. It's about multiplying money and that's how everybody benefits in the end because you got spend that money and pay somebody else. And one can't excempt socialism within a free market economy without crashing it eventually