Re:Adam Smith did not mean what he is often made to say (1998)
by thayne on Sunday March 13, 2022 @01:43PM
(#30663748)
Investors make money because of the money they already had, based on work that other people do. But investment is often (though not universally) considered good.
Re:Adam Smith did not mean what he is often made to say (1998)
by simonh on Sunday March 13, 2022 @05:54PM
(#30666128)
Id argue that active investment, seeking out good companies and deploying capital where it can do the most good growing companies and employing people, is valuable work.
Passive investment less so, but I think the remedy for that is decently high death duties and inheritance taxes. The more we close loopholes in those the better.
Re:Adam Smith did not mean what he is often made to say (1998)
by chii on Sunday March 13, 2022 @10:25PM
(#30667910)
> Passive investment less so
i argue the opposite - most people are not smart enough to know what investment is going to give the highest return. Passively invest means you let the market decide, and spend your time to improve your own worth and output.
Re:Adam Smith did not mean what he is often made to say (1998)
by thayne on Sunday March 13, 2022 @08:05PM
(#30667077)
But often the people who have large amounts of capital pay someone else to actively manage it for them.
Is it? I mean, I'm sure some people think it's good, but since the early 20th century I do think rentier income has increasingly been viewed as parasitic. If anything, I'd have said that the view that people should make their income by working rather than having stuff is much more mainstream now than in Smith's time.