Adam Smith And Karl Marx s Views On The Deregulation Of...

ECON1401 Written Assignment 2: Adam Smith and Karl Marx’s Views on the Deregulation of University Fees INTRODUCTION The Abbott government’s recent proposal for deregulation of university fees in Australia has brought about much controversial debate. Under current policy, university fees are set at a fixed rate, in which a price ceiling is placed on the amount universities can charge students and with no interest on student loans. The new proposal to deregulate these fees eliminates the price ceiling and gives universities the freedom to set tuition fees at any level they see fit. This holds two possible implications: (1) this would increase competition between universities and drive fees down; or (2) the freedom granted to universities†¦show more content†¦Smith started a career as a lecturer at both Oxford University and the University of Glasgow. The turning point of his life to revolutionary change was in 1764, when he became the tutor of a young duke and travelled with him around Europe for more than two years. It was this trip that not only gave him the opportunity to meet man y other great thinkers, but it also provided him with enough money to return home and focus on producing his most famous book, Wealth of Nations (1776) . The value of Wealth of Nations did not lie on the presented ideas being original, but it rested on the brilliant way in which Smith organized and fitted the different ideas from different thinkers into one massive masterpiece – like a completed jigsaw puzzle, his work has been described as a comprehensive landscape of economics . His work and contribution to the world of economics made him the ‘Father of Economics’ and inspired many economists after him such as David Ricardo and Thomas Malthus. Essentially, Smith’s arguments were focused on the rationale that individuals were all motivated by self-gain and a desire for wealth. In other words, individuals will act or perform tasks for the purposes of gaining a benefit or increasing his/her wealth. As quoted from Wealth of Nations, â€Å"it is not from the benevolence of the butcher, the brewer, or the baker, that we can expect our dinner, but from their regard to their own interest† . Smith argued that this sort of behaviour