Selfishness, Greed and Capitalism

Economists think we live in a free market‘On the contrary, they are one of the chief sources of danger’(Friedman 1978). Adam Smith famously complained that‘People of the same trade seldom meet together, even formerriment and diversion, but the conversation ends in aconspiracy against the public, or in some contrivance toraise prices’ (Smith 1957: 117).One of the central themes of The Wealth of Nations isthe ceaseless attempt of business interests or capitaliststo protect their profits by persuading legislators to createnew laws (‘rent-seeking’). The narrow self-interest ofwealthy businessmen often lies in excluding competitors,fixing prices and raising barriers to entry. They disguisetheir self-interest with the cloak of the ‘public interest’.The brewer calls for higher taxes on spirits to protect thepublic health. The baker calls for tariffs on imported breadto protect jobs. But it is the public who pay the price forthese regulations and, as Smith explained, ‘the interest ofthe State and the nation is constantly sacrificed to that ofsome particular class of traders’ (Smith 1957: 156).Few on the political left struggle to accept the notionthat big business can have a malign influence on thebody politic. However, it is not only organised capital, butorganised labour, organised ideologues and organisedbureaucrats who can lead a ‘conspiracy against the public’.State monopolies are at least as inefficient as privatemonopolies, and government itself is a monopoly. Politiciansand bureaucrats are able to enrich themselves at thepublic’s expense. Trade unions exist, in large part, to raisethe price of labour – and therefore the price of goods andservices – through closed shops and industrial action. The55