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A (Brief) Moral History of Capitalism

Even those few of my readers who have studied economic theory or the history of economics probably studied them long ago and not entirely voluntarily. As a result, names like Adam Smith have a musty scent to them, suggesting something that happened long ago and far away and that couldn't have much relevance to twenty-first century America. Whatever capitalism might have meant in the early days before the Industrial Revolution, we are thinking, surely it means something quite different today. But in fact the fundamental tenets of market theory are as profoundly important to modern economies as they were profoundly important to economies two or three centuries ago.

And what is of central importance today, as it was 300 years ago, is the moral character of capitalism. Serious critiques of the effectiveness of market economies versus other forms of economic organization have almost completely disappeared, buried by the stunning success of capitalism. To argue, early in the twenty-first century, that some other system might produce superior economic results would be to mark ourselves as serious ideologues. But moral critiques of capitalism have always been with us, and probably always will be. It simply can't be denied that market economies are designed in part to appeal to aspects of human nature that don't exactly represent our proudest moments. If human beings weren't selfish, weren't inclined to be lazy, didn't instinctively mistrust anyone ...