College of Business Administration

Seminar in Business and the Good Society

Discussion Questions for October 17, 2000:

The Worldly Philosophers, Part II

1) Karl Marx believed that capitalists would use "laborsaving machinery" to avoid higher costs resulting from rising wages. In the modern world, textile factories in Tunisia and Portugal choose to employ numerous workers rather than introducing machinery. This high labor usage results in higher costs and forces European companies to have their goods manufactured in Asia.
What should the North African and Southern European manufacturing companies do? Should they implement automation at the cost of laying off employees? Would the situation change if the state regulated the amount of automation? To what extent are robotics and automated machinery used in your utopia?

2) Karl Marx saw no escape from his dialectical materialist theory in which a system not only destroyed itself but also in so doing, would give birth to its successor.
Do you think there will be a successor to capitalism?

3) Marx believed a classless system would evolve from capitalism. In his society "the basis for an economic division of society based on property would be removed." (Worldly Philosophers, p. 161) Society would own all of the means of production.
In your society are there public and private means of production? Are raw materials and resources allocated on a public or private basis? What consideration is given to protecting these resources for future generations?

4) Marx predicted that the self-employed would join mass producing companies. They would then be forced to sell their "labor-power on the market - that is to become a "proletarian." In France, competition and pressure from the European Community is forcing many artisans to close their shops and join bigger companies.
Is this a consequence of Marx's theory? What will be done in your society to maintain small business? Are there any anti-trust provisions in your society?

5) Marx saw economic instability and the concentration of wealth and power as symptoms of the downfall of capitalism. Unemployment rates in European countries are significantly higher than in the United States. They provide "free universal education (including college), health and pension benefits, and unemployment relief on scales that put ours to shame." (Worldly Philosophers, p 168.)
How does your society provide for the general welfare of its citizens, yet provide sufficient motivation to work? What poverty level should exist in the Good Society? What is a reasonable unemployment rate, if it exists in your society?

6) A state that could balance "the claims of its conflicting members" was unlikely to exist according to Marx. (Worldly Philosophers, p. 161) Robert Heilbroner, the author of Worldly Philosophers, believes that America has been able to avoid the doom of capitalism through democracy and the ability to change.
What processes allow your society to adapt and preserve itself? What constraints, both regulatory and non-regulatory, should exist to avoid economic collapse?

7) How much influence should the government have on the market? Does the Federal Reserve Board exist in your Utopia? Are there economic indicators in your society that are monitored to allow for change? How severe are the economic cycles?

8) Marx believed that "surplus value" created profit for companies. Employees only earned enough to cover their "subsistence". The remaining labor translated to profit for the firm.
Should the Good Society have a minimum wage? Is this intended to be a livable wage?
In Marx's day, employees worked extremely long hours.
What is your definition of a livable wage? Are there any means to prevent labor from become undervalued?

9) Who should be entitled to the surplus within a system of capitalism, and why?

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