The Under-appreciated insights of Adam Smith and what he sees as attainable for Human Societies..
“the world indeed is ruled by little else…”
“ The ideas of economists and political philosophers, both when they are right and when they are wrong, are more powerful than is commonly understood. Indeed, the world is ruled by little else.. .I am sure that the power of vested interests is vastly exaggerated compared with the gradual encroachment of ideas.. Sooner or later, it is ideas, not vested interests , which are dangerous for good or evil…”
-The General Theory of Employment, Interest, and Money, John M. Keynes
“ The voice of the intellect is a soft one, but it does not rest until it has gained a hearing. Ultimately, after endless rebuffs, it succeeds. It is one of the few points in which one may be still optimistic about the future of mankind and that such force can exist signifies not a little.”
-“The Future of an Illusion” , Sigmund Freund
The “under-appreciated” insights of Adam Smith ...
“ We think Adam Smith is NOT the apologist of the kind of Capitalist System many have in mind which is quite a misguided and over-simplistic conception to begin with.
Indeed, one may argue that one of the main motive behind “An Enquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations “ (or the Wealth of Nations) could well be Smith’s deep concern on how practically one could “lift the poor in the world out of poverty”, as James Otteson has suggested…
And we think it would be doubly more inspiring and illuminating if we can come to see the Wealth of Nations as really the sequel to The Theory of Moral Sentiments and the great message from these two masterpieces plus Smith’s other thoughts and deeds could well be that, a human society with “universal opulence” and yet exhibiting also “virtues”, “prudence” , “justice” and “beneficence” is entirely conceivable and attainable.
In this sense, one may argue that Smith’s concerns about the poor and the working class is not any less than Karl Marx, and his passion about a better human society may not be any less than Plato.
It is our view that the true Adam Smith is far from being understood and herein may lie one main potential contribution Hong Kong and HK companies could make to Humanities, which then could well help to lift Hong Kong from a city of negligible importance to one with some and lasting importance to the global capital markets and the world at large.”
– The HKH Research House
The under-appreciated profound Vision of Adam Smith..
“..it is entirely possible that our society could evolve and develop into a stage with “all ranks in society” reaching “opulence” but still exhibiting “virtues” , with elements of “prudence” to restrain the individuals’ excesses; elements of “justice” to prevent us harming others; and elements of “beneficence” to promote the happiness of others.
And such society may well not be obsessed with merely the chasing of material wealth or symbols of wealth. Instead, it may well be focusing on the pursuit of all the three components of “Happiness” as highlighted in The Theory of Moral Sentiments: “material provision, social engagement and the tranquility that comes from acting virtuously..”
Adam Smith*
*This is an interpretation of the thoughts of Adam Smith made by HKH Research House but the words in quote are all from the words from Adam Smith in his two masterpieces “ The Theory of Moral Sentiments” and “An inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations.”
The Two Sides of Human Nature as observed by Adam Smith..
We think Adam Smith’s life time endeavour can be characterized by a passionate attempt made by a “man of letters” to tell his fellow citizens of the world and the posterity an alternative “intellectual structure” to theorize the world as he saw it which was very different from the old mercantilist semi-feudal order which saw the world as largely a zero-sum game and which Adam Smith believed was misguided and that his perspective would represent a much smarter way of looking at the world.
We think Adam Smith’s life time is NOT the apologist for the kind of capitalist system most have in mind. We think Adam Smith is a moral philosopher first and foremost and we think the Wealth of Nations should be seen as really a sequel to The Theory of Moral Sentiments and they should be read together as they really represent two dialectic sides of man which is at once a self-interest oriented specie but at the same time, also a social creature capable of virtue.
Society, therefore, is about making the most out of these two forces, but it appears that so far the world has focused mainly on just part of the first side and the subtlety and sophistications underpinning the free market capitalist society seemed to have been neglected. We think it is important not to overlook the other side of Human Nature and more importantly, the forces that could be unleashed by a virtuous cycle between these two sides of Human Nature.
From Adam Smith 0.5 to Adam Smith 3.0
“: …There comes a time, When we need a certain call. When the world must come together as one. We are the world. We are the children. We are the ones who makes a brighter day, just you and me…… .”
– Lyrics, We are the World,
We think the world is now at just version 0.5 in terms of understanding the full message of Adam Smith which is based on just about 50% (or less) of understanding of the Wealth of Nation, whose full name is “An inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations” and its motive is more about how practically one can lift the poor out of poverty rather than justifying and defending the capitalist system, in our view.
Adam Smith 1.0 is about a thorough understanding about the Wealth of Nations; while Adam Smith 2.0 is about seeing Wealth of Nations and the Theory of Moral Sentiments (TMS) as an integrated whole.
Adam Smith 3.0 is about adapting Adam Smith 2.0 to the modern world and after incorporating the insights of Keynes, Hayek, Fisher, Coase, the “New Institutional Economics” and others to achieve what Adam Smith has thought to be attainable, which is letting the “invisible hand” and the “impartial spectator” converting “the private interest and passions of men” into a better world for all.