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> Moral decline is only ever important in economic troublesome times. Adam Smith wrote that none of his theories, about free trade and specialization making ev
by badpun 3y ago
> Moral decline is only ever important in economic troublesome times.
Adam Smith wrote that none of his theories, about free trade and specialization making everyone richer, could not work if the society was not moral enough. If everybody will cheat as soon as there's an opportunity to do it and get away with it, nobody can be trused and trade caeases to exist - and specialization and comparative advantage with it. So, morality is actually crucial for economic growth.
- omniglottal 3y agoIf anyone bases any assumptions on a phrase which depends on "if everyone...", then those assumptions are guaranteed to be wrong. Never will everyone do any one thing.
- jstarfish 3y agoYou're taking it way too literally. 100% participation rate is not the point. It could be 25%, it could be 51%. Once we get past a certain threshold of bad actors in the marketplace, trade is impossible. We don't know what the exact limit is, but we're best served keeping that number closer to 0 so we don't have to find out.