Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Acknowledgments
- List of tables and figures
- List of contributors
- Part I Overview
- Part II National experiences of big business
- Part III Economic and institutional environment of big business
- 15 Organizational competences, firm size, and the wealth of nations: Some comments from a comparative perspective
- 16 Managerial control, capital markets, and the wealth of nations
- 17 Big business and skill formation in the wealthiest nations: The organizational revolution in the twentieth century
- 18 Government, big business, and the wealth of nations
- 19 Constructing big business: The cultural concept of the firm
- Index of company names
- General index
18 - Government, big business, and the wealth of nations
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 04 May 2010
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Acknowledgments
- List of tables and figures
- List of contributors
- Part I Overview
- Part II National experiences of big business
- Part III Economic and institutional environment of big business
- 15 Organizational competences, firm size, and the wealth of nations: Some comments from a comparative perspective
- 16 Managerial control, capital markets, and the wealth of nations
- 17 Big business and skill formation in the wealthiest nations: The organizational revolution in the twentieth century
- 18 Government, big business, and the wealth of nations
- 19 Constructing big business: The cultural concept of the firm
- Index of company names
- General index
Summary
THE INTELLECTUAL BACKGROUND: SMITH AND LIST
In his famous formulation of the proper role of government in promoting the wealth of nations, Adam Smith limited public activities to three functions:
“protecting the society from the violence and invasion of other societies”;
“protecting, as far as possible, every member of the society from the injustice or oppression of every other member of it, or the duty of establishing an exact administration of justice”;
“erecting and maintaining those publick institutions and those publick works, which, though they may be in the highest degree advantageous to a great society, are, however, of such a nature, that the profit could never repay the expence to any individual or small number of individuals.”
Throughout The Wealth of Nations, an occasional exception to Smith's limited functions appears, but by and large he sees little role for the state. He also saw little role for corporations, particularly those receiving any type of government support. He had little use for public education or for many types of public works – he advocated private operation of roads and waterworks, for example. So we can see in a nutshell the fundamental attitude not only of Adam Smith but also of the classical and neoclassical traditions that have followed in his formidable wake. The market will suffice to almost all things, so the role of government is to create the minimal facilitative conditions, then step back. Treat market imperfections on an ad hoc basis, as they arise.
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- Big Business and the Wealth of Nations , pp. 522 - 545Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 1997
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