There is of course the a. Greif story of maghrebi traders that runs along these lines. But even then there was a fleet to back the words with deeds. Words of honour alone will not do.
Jim Devine <[email protected]> wrote: >Roger Hollingsworth: >It is often forgotten that Adam Smith – an >eighteenth century moral philosopher often considered the “father of >capitalism” – believed the most important force coordinating relations >among competing actors was not the state, but widely shared views >about morality. For markets to work effectively it was necessary for >buyers and sellers to have trust in one another. In the early history >of capitalism, trust between buyers and sellers was the glue which >held the system together. Trust was facilitated by traditional >principles shared by both buyers and sellers. And in Western >capitalism this kind of trust emerged from the ethical norms of the >Judeo-Christian tradition. Over time, however, the success of >capitalism unleashed the forces of industrialization and >modernization, which undermined the strength of religious institutions >and traditional obligations. Slowly there came to be a need for new >mechanisms to coordinate the forces inherent in the system, which >would otherwise generate systematic disorder.< > >Smith missed the contradiction between the trust that he saw as >necessary to markets working in a half-decent way and the greed that >makes markets run and is encouraged by market relations (especially >M-C-M'). The greed dissolves the "glue." >-- >Jim Devine / "In an ugly and unhappy world the richest man can >purchase nothing but ugliness and unhappiness." -- George Bernard Shaw >_______________________________________________ >pen-l mailing list >[email protected] >https://lists.csuchico.edu/mailman/listinfo/pen-l _______________________________________________ pen-l mailing list [email protected] https://lists.csuchico.edu/mailman/listinfo/pen-l
