Laissez-Faire, Buy American, and Road to Communism...

“Society cannot subsist amongst those who are ready to hurt one another”(Adam Smith, The Theory of Moral Sentiments. www.adamsmith.org.)

This is what will happen to America. Conflicting interests if not balanced and humble and makes self-interest less priority after the others who are weaker and need immediate relief (triage principle), America is committing self destruction. Businesses should be just and also sensitive to micro level.

“..[S]uccessful business will continue to exist with rules and justice” (Davis, Lukomnik, Watson, 2006, the New Capitalist. USA: Harvard)

Alfred Marshall professed in his Principles in Economics that companies’ success depended on a spirit of honesty and uprightness in commercial matters, laws, institution, and the rest.

Milton Friedman observed the failing market during his time with the businessmen and executives’ hypocritical window-dressing.

The businessmen according to Friedman are capable of being extremely farsighted and clear-headed in matters that are internal to their business.

This holds to be true nowadays. Companies are running bankrupt and they look and solve the problem in macro level but they could not see internal factors.

AIG, for example, tried to figure its own collapse with external dynamics but was not conscious that extravagant executive pays contributed to its controversial spending and losses until a New York Attorney General called their attention.

Friedman added that they are incredibly short-sighted and muddle-headed in matters that are outside their business. It is strikingly exemplified in their lobbying and bribes to legislators and bureaucrats for wage and price controls and tax policies.


Practitioners and advocates of laissez-faire failed to comprehend correctly the real Smith’s doctrine and that resulted to massive losses, labor layoffs, and closures because they do not behave within the rules of the game (please see Alfred Marshall) and they do not engage in deception-free market (Friedman).

If rules and community cooperation among market players are not observed, players will hurt one self and one another.

If others are honest and cooperating and others are not and still blind of the real purposive collective ends of laissez faire doctrine, it is the right of the honest and cooperating individuals to defend and protect themselves from capitalist scum.