Ownership and competition
Capitalism takes different forms across countries and periods. In this essay, the term describes economies where private ownership, investment for profit and wage labour play a central role. Markets help coordinate decisions through prices. Those prices also reflect who can enter a market, who has bargaining power and what costs the rules allow firms to pass on.
What Smith and Marx illuminate
Adam Smith used the invisible hand metaphor in a specific discussion of domestic investment in The Wealth of Nations. He also wrote about duties of government, including public works and institutions. Karl Marx approached production from a different angle. His account of surplus value asks how the value generated by labour relates to the value paid for labour power. Reading them together brings both coordination and power into view.
The questions behind Empathic Economy
I use Empathic Economy as a name for an ethical proposal. When judging an arrangement, I ask who gains, who bears the risk and whether the people affected have a meaningful say. A factory may create work while imposing costs on a nearby community. The case for changing its practices depends on evidence about those costs, the alternatives and who can afford the transition.