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Adam Smith on Wages and Education: Some Policy Implications for India

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  • Alex M. Thomas

Abstract

This article outlines Adam Smith’s views on wages and education and employs them in providing suggestions for contemporary politics and economic policy. In particular, the joint examination of his concept of ‘subsistence wages’ and his views on education offer a radically different interpretation of Smith to that found in the mainstream literature. Smith’s qualified and nuanced view of wages and education suggests that the market, if left to itself, cannot generate fair wages nor provide inclusive education. Therefore, our contemporary politics and economic policy must incorporate them as central socioeconomic targets.

Suggested Citation

  • Alex M. Thomas, 2019. "Adam Smith on Wages and Education: Some Policy Implications for India," Indian Journal of Human Development, , vol. 13(1), pages 84-89, April.
    • Handle: RePEc:sae:inddev:v:13:y:2019:i:1:p:84-89
    DOI: 10.1177/0973703019842673
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Antonella Stirati, 1994. "THE THEORY OF WAGES IN CLASSICAL ECONOmiCS," Books, Edward Elgar Publishing, number 417.
    2. Tony Aspromourgos, 2010. "'Universal opulence': Adam Smith on technical progress and real wages," The European Journal of the History of Economic Thought, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 17(5), pages 1169-1182.
    3. Frank Wilkinson, 2012. "Wages, economic development and the customary standard of life," Cambridge Journal of Economics, Oxford University Press, vol. 36(6), pages 1497-1534.
    4. Alex M. Thomas, 2018. "Adam Smith on the Philosophy and Provision of Education," Journal of Interdisciplinary Economics, , vol. 30(1), pages 105-116, January.
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