The Age of Exploration and Discovery (l5th-l7th centuries) — an era which saw the rise of wealth in gold, silver, and raw resources from colonies in the New World. In addition, the laws of the market not only insure that prices are competitive, but they also determine the quantities of goods produced. As Smith explains, when the public demands more gloves than shoes, there will be a brisk business in gloves, but little demand for shoes. Consequently, the price of gloves will rise as demand exceeds supply and pushes prices up. The price of shoes will go down because the supply exceeds the demand. For the Marx Team, at least, its importance derives from the fact that it dictates the relationship of Workers with the product of their labor (alienation), as well as the quality of their life (subjugation to Caterpillarists). The interests of the two classes are diametrically opposed. One class does not win, unless another loses.

It was dismal, because it found “the secret of the universe in supply and demand” and reduced the duty of government to “letting man alone” (i.e., “laissez-faire” capitalism). But the key to the operation of the laws of the market is that the market is "its own guardian." It is self-regulating if left alone (laissez faire) so that competition can operate freely without government control and without monopolies. The Emergence of Nation-States (l5th-l7th centuries) — a period giving rise to royal patronage for favored industries, maritime trade, common laws, standard measures, and common currencies.It is my solemn duty to shelter you from these dark arts and the misery that could befall you if you come across them. Thus, the differential between capital and labor would diminish and potentially manifest itself in a distinction only between Workers and Management.

An overview of the political, social, and ethical concepts of economic thought. For the person pursuing an education on the history of the lives, times, and ideas of the great economic thinkers of the Western world, this book contains a capsulized version of the major tenets. Economics: The study of the ways in which human beings make a living; the study of human wants and their satisfaction; the science of wealth. To comprehend fully why Smith's Wealth of Nations was a revolutionary book, one must know something of the economy and living conditions in England in 1776. The nation was entering the second of three stages of capitalism.They still didn’t get a share of the profits. They just got paid a better wage, usually whether or not the Caterpillarist generated a profit. So the risk-taking Caterpillarist could go down the gurgler, while the Workers still got paid (although they might lose their jobs). Mercantilism The doctrine which dominated European economic policies from 1500 until the advent of laissez faire through a program which stressed that the real wealth of a nation resulted from its stores of gold and silver, which could be acquired by an excess of exports to imports, self-sufficiency of the nation, and exploitation of colonies.