Pismo Adama Smitha

Financial Times je objavil pismo, ki ga je Adam Smith napisal kapitalistom sveta. Ne bo narobe, če kak poudarek preberejo tudi Slovenci:

vir: Wikipedia

A Letter To Capitalists From Adam Smith 

To: Capitalists of the WorldFrom: Adam Smith 

What has become of my beloved capitalism? Countries teeter, protests rage, unemployed multiply, deficits abound the virtues of capitalism are questioned.
(...)
I am pleased to see that capitalism has triumphed over communism and socialism in virtually every part of the world – and many of the most skilled capitalists are, ironically, in the countries where communism and socialism once prevailed (now endearingly called emerging markets).

A to on o Jankoviću, Šrotu, Bavčarju ... ?

This triumph has occurred because capitalism’s greatest strength – productive economic activity – has succeeded in creating more opportunities for more people than anyone – including me – ever imagined. (...)

All that is satisfying. What is not satisfying is the view that capitalism has to work perfectly to justify its presence. I never said it would. I just said it was better than the alternatives, as Winston Churchill famously said about democracy.

Ne torej pričakovati preveč. Sanje in iluzije so seveda zmeraj boljše od resničnosti.

Alternativa?

I always felt there were two principal flaws – and we saw them come to a head over the past few years. The first is that unfettered exuberance about wealth creation will produce unsustainable booms and inevitable crashes. The great recession, fuelled by cheap credit, is a textbook example of this flaw.

The second is the inequality that results when the charge towards wealth creation leaves behind those less able (in most cases through no fault of their own) to adapt or to compete with the hard-chargers. The income disparity in many wealthy countries is now at its greatest level since I left the scene – and it was not so wonderful then either. 

While there is no simple cure to capitalism’s two big flaws, here is what I would do in 2012 to get the system back on its feet and to modulate income disparities. 

1. Save the euro and the European Union. (...)
2. Fix the US debt and deficit. (...)
3. Integrate the emerged markets (...)
4. Educate. Educate. Educate (...)

No, to zadnje gotovo lahko naredimo tudi v Sloveniji. Kot je zdaj moderno reči, "odločno in brezkompromisno". Kar se pa reševanja evra in ameriškega dolga tiče: za evro bomo največ naredili, če bomo zagnali domačo gospodarsko rast. In zanima naj nas domači, ne pa ameriški dolg.