ADAM SMITH AND KARL MARX — AN UNLIKELY MEETING IN THE 21ST CENTURY LABOUR MARKET

BY STEFAN ZYLINSKI

On the face of it, the ideas of Adam Smith and Karl Marx could not be further apart. While Smith laid the foundations for the free market, Marx predicted Capitalism’s demise and eventual capitulation to Socialism; one the ‘Father of Modern Capitalism’, the other its greatest critic. And yet when we dig a little deeper, we can find areas where the ideas of these two great economic philosophers not only converge, but can in turn provide valuable lessons for us today

Both Smith and Marx recognised similar effects of certain Capitalist processes on society — that is, the effects of the division of labour. As a principle of organisation, the division of labour has had a long history. But it was Smith’s work on the free market that brought it into modern consciousness.

Smith told the story of the production of pins in a pin factory; he described how production is far more efficient if you have one person each specialising in making a small part of a pin, rather then each trying to make a whole one.

Later, Marx developed the concept, showing it to have two complimentary but distinct aspects; the social division of labour (creating specialist occupations) and the technical division of labour (the progressive breaking down…