Open AccessGreed or Self-Interest? Which is the Driving Force of Capitalism?
Author(s) -
Kwok Tung Cheung
Publication year - 2020
Publication title -
global business and economics anthology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
ISSN - 1553-1392
DOI - 10.47341/gbea.20121
Subject(s) - ethical egoism , capitalism , self interest , virtuous circle and vicious circle , economics , neoclassical economics , political science , positive economics , law , keynesian economics , politics
People commonly believe that greed is the driving force of capitalism, whereas some business scholars argue that it should be self-interest. This distinction is significant to them because acquisitive behaviors motivated by self-interest can be seen as morally neutral and sometimes even virtuous, whereas those motivated by greed are definitely vicious. In this essay, I attempt to show that greed and self-interest are not that different. Thus, the ethical status of competitive business behaviors is not clear. I will first explain why some business scholars believe that the driving force of capitalism is self-interest but not greed. Then I present more sophisticated concepts of greed, self-interest and egoism, so that we may make a sensible comparison that leads to my conclusion. Keywords: greed, self-interest, capitalism, egoism