Reverend Adam Smith Free Market

Ewert did a great job in Moral Criticisms of the Market, he supported fought against free market from criticisms of Christian Socialists. I am on the same accord with Ewert position concerning the moral perspective of Christians, he recognized their flaw on their views on the free market. There are things held against the market, it has been subject to accusations of egocentrism and covetousness. There have been debates among Christians about the impact of the free market. Ewert addressed the issues concerning the free market and informs the reader about religious criticism and of the free market. He is right when he acknowledged that the free market supports everyone chasing their ideas. Even the founding fathers supported economic freedom

British writer, Adam Smith announces that the "discovery" of America was one of "the two greatest and most important events recorded in the history of mankind" simply because of the "great benefits" produced by America. Along with the "splendor and glory" American colonies brought, the emanation of the Atlantic became a major trade route for things such as "population movement." (Give Me Liberty! ch.1 pg.6 )

Adam Smith was a Scottish political economist and moral philosopher, who studied moral philosophy at Oxford University and University of Glasgow. Smith is considered by many to be the founding father of economics and the first free-market capitalist. In fact, in many ways his philosophies and theories have helped shape our country and our economy into what it is today. Smith introduced us to the invisible hand theory which referred to the free markets. The invisible hand theory stated that ultimately when people were left able to pursue their best interests, meaning that they were able to pursue work that made them happy and that enabled them to command the highest wage for themselves or when entrepreneurs were able to provide good

Adam Smith born 1723-1790 a Scottish philosopher and Economist. Defending the morals of acceptability of pursuing one's self- interest quoted in Document C “Every man is left perfectly free to pursue his own interest in his own way.” Smith gains into the general utility of society knowns as the the invisible hand argument. In the Wealth of Nations smith reveals the interests of merchants and manufacturers were opposed to those of society and had a tendency of pursuing their own interest. Smith wasn’t one to let religious attitude stop his thinking. He believed that more wealth to common people would benefit a nation's economy and society as a whole, stated in the The Wealth of Nation. Smith’s main

Called the Father of Modern Economics, Adam Smith was an enormous advocate for private markets. He supported an economic system based on the decision making by individuals instead of the government. Smith felt that no one person or a group is fit to make decisions for a whole population of people and that the population knows how to make decisions for its welfare. In Smith’s mind, people work to supplement their own lives, and when people seek individual economic gain then they unexpectedly promote society and stimulate the economy subconsciously. If people earn more money by working harder then almost all people will work harder. Smith insinuates that people are naturally self preserving and by default selfish; but to a point. Everyone has something that they want and in this world most things can be obtained if a person has enough money. Smith believes that every man should be free to

Milton Friedman believed a free-market system, in which goods and services are exchanged and controlled by individuals and privately-owned businesses without government authority, was the only way to achieve personal freedom. Adam Smith, a 18th century philosopher and economist, held the belief that in a free society, the role of government should be limited to the protection of the people, the administration of justice through the court system, and the maintenance of all public resources. Adam Smith developed the concept of the “invisible hand” theory, which says within a society that is free of government interference, individuals can pursue actions out of their own self-interest, and the collective result of this

“The thought experiment of Adam Smith correctly takes into account the fact that people rationally pursue their economic interests. Of course they do. But this thought experiment fails to take into account the extent to which people are also guided by noneconomic motivations. And it fails to take into account the extent to which they are irrational or misguided. It ignores the animal spirits.” Ibid., 3.

Adam Smith was born in Kirkcaldy, Scotland. His father Adam Smith Sr. died when he was 2 months old leaving his mother alone to raise him. She encouraged him to continue his scholar ambitions and he attended the Burgh School of Kirkcaldy from 1729 to 1737, where he learned many subjects.

“He (or she) generally, indeed, neither intends to promote the public interest nor knows how much he is promoting it. 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,”(Smith b, p.184). This idea of the “invisible hand” has been greatly transformed by modern economists, but Adam Smith simply saw it as how the free market would allow individuals to pursue their self-interests. This ultimately promoted the society as a whole in the most efficient way.

The 18th century was the precise beginning of the enlightenment era. In this period of time there came about new thinkers, new ideas and concepts such as, progress, reason and science. During this time writers were considered as philosophers; they came up with many different theories and had various points of views. Adam Smith, above all, was one of the first and greatest philosophers in the Enlightenment Era. In Adam Smith’s Theory of Moral Sentiments, he lectures about different principles and what he believes men should encompass in their day to day lives.

Adam Smith is considered as one of the most influential economists in the 18th century. Although his theories have been criticized by several socialist economists, however, his idea of capitalism still has great impact to the rest of the economists during classical, neo classical periods and the structure of today’s economy. Even the former Prime Minister of Britain, Margaret Thatcher had praised on Smith’s contribution on today’s capitalism market. She commented “Adam Smith, in fact, heralded the end of the strait-jacket of feudalism and released all the innate energy of private initiative and enterprise which enable wealth to be created on a scale never before contemplated” (Copley and Sutherland 1995, 2). Smith is also being recognized

The earliest organized school of economic thought is known as Classical. The father of this school is Adam Smith. Smith used the concept of the invisible hand to describe the role of the market in the allocation of resources. In the market, the interaction of demand and supply determines how much of a good will be produced and the price that is charged for that good. Absent any explicit guidance mechanism, the invisible hand guides participants in the market towards an outcome that efficiently allocates resources to the production of goods that society desires.

In economics, some classical liberals believe that ‘’an unfettered market’’ is the most efficient mechanism to satisfy human needs and channel resources to their most productive uses. The minimal government advocacy of an ‘’unregulated free market’’ is founded on an ‘’assumption about individuals being rational, self-interested and methodical in the pursuit of their goals. Adam Smith was not an advocate of pure capitalism. Adam Smith allowed for many exceptions to a strictly free-market economy. The classical liberals advocated policies to increase liberty and prosperity. They sought to empower the commercial class politically. They abolish royal charters, monopolies and the protectionist policies of mercantilism to encourage

The foundation of his philosophy was illustrated by the “invisible hand” of individual self-interest, which left to its own devices, would ensure the greater good of society. Rooted in this concept was the supremacy of the individual over the state. As explained by Sandmo (2009), “we do not find in Smith’s work any systematic attempt at aggregation of individual interests” and “it is in the light of consumers’ interest that we must judge the effects of the individual hand” (Sandmo, 2009, p.51). With this emphasis on the individual and complete faith on the market mechanism’s ability to allocate resources, the role of the State was relegated to the case of a “night watchman”, as per Sandmo (2009). The limited three-pronged scope of work for the government that Adam Smith envisaged, included providing protection from external forces, ensuring the protection of individual members’ of the state from injustice and oppression and and erecting institutions for the wider welfare of society (Medema and Samuels, 2000, p. 151,152).

Adam Smith’s economic universe was largely based around the idea of a capitalist free market system. Smith argued that the free market would be efficient in deciding what to produce how much of it and at what price. He used the metaphor of ‘The Invisible Hand’ to use a symbol for the natural settlement of how goods would