Re: End of the newsgroup

On 27/09/2011 22:04, David Friedman wrote:
In article<%Kngq.69$Nd3.19@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>,
John Briggs<john.briggs4@xxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:

So why isn't a theory in which the decline of feudalism is a result of
the increased opportunity cost of retainers due to the increased
availability of luxuries obtained by trade an example of economic
causation in history?

I'm not convinced that Smith understood the concept of "opportunity
cost" - and I'm reasonably certain that I don't...

The latter I believe. For the former, I think the particular argument I
referred to is evidence that he did.

As I said, it seems more sensible to regard what Smith wrote as a moral
fable, or a Just-So story.

Or in other words, you have no argument. "Moral fable" seems a
particularly bizarre way to describe a straightforward use of economics
to explain a historical change.

It's hardly even a theory - it certainly doesn't deal with any actual historical facts. A thought experiment, perhaps? A Socratic myth? (Don't get me started on "The Tragedy of the Commons"!)

It isn't clear whether by "Feudal System" Smith means the top level (monarch and tenants-in-chief) or the bottom (serfs or villeins on a manor.) If the former, various historians will be along in a minute to explain that the feudal system never existed. If the latter (manorialism), I would have expected some discussion on the situation (as was actually the case in late medieval England) where some manorial proprietors found it more advantageous to employ wage-labourers rather than to rely on customary labour.
--
John Briggs
.

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