Comments on: Medieval business was less keen on greed

By: Rob

Rob — Sat, 11 Aug 2012 16:24:14 +0000

@ Adam Smith. You do grasp, I hope, that this is but an article on research undertaken by Ms. Stokes, not the body of research itself. Your outburst seems petulant, even juvenile.

By: Garrett

Garrett — Fri, 10 Aug 2012 19:14:39 +0000

This is intriguing (and has nothing to do with Capitalism @Adam Smith). Greed has always existed but today, business is constructed around it. See Nouriel Roubini who said ” Greed is good so long as it is tempered by fear of losses.” This underscores her point that the medieval business man would see the modern businessman as lacking virtue or honor, even if they marveled at modern achievement. Still, I think the religious orientation of the time had a larger affect on this behavior than is given credit.

By: James

James — Sun, 05 Aug 2012 23:10:36 +0000

If you read the article again the author said that capitalism thrived in the middle ages. And for that matter never said it was bad either. Just that capitalism took on a different social characteristic in those times then it does now. If you don’t appreciate this article as scholarship that is you opinion, however, if you are going to give criticism, give it in a manner that is backed up by scholarship not faith or common sense. By doing such you show understanding of what criticism is. Your “criticism” had none of this.

As it happens niether does mine, that is if you don’t consider this article as scholarship.

By: Adam Smith

Adam Smith — Sat, 04 Aug 2012 01:05:07 +0000

Selective propaganda. Medieval life was filled with greed starting from the sovereign on down.

And what about trade guilds, where if you hadn’t been through the proper apprenticeship you COULDN’T go into trade for yourself? That was a form of greed. It’s called keep out as many as possible from the club.

The author picks one example of forbearance on a mortgage and that’s proof? Trust me, many many people were thrown out of their homes with not a single thought given to them. Many business people swindled the public — just as many were honest because they dealt daily with their customers and knew they needed to maintain a good business reputation or they’d drive themselves OUT of business.

Not all businesspeople were greedy and dishonest — and not all were lily white either.

Anecdotal socialist claptrap trying to convince us capitalism is bad. And this is called scholarship?

By: Michael Gray

Michael Gray — Fri, 03 Aug 2012 22:17:47 +0000

Stokes gets it partly right. From whence did the “Socially Indigenous Value Sets” arise? Yes – these were part of the culture. What shaped the culture?