Tuesday, February 13, 2007

Xi Zhang Gets it Right - Why can't others?

Not all users of Adam Smith’s writings do so inappropriately and when I come across them I like to include them on ‘Lost Legacy’. Here’s one that crossed my desk this morning (enjoy, as restaurant staff say):

Lousy cheating rat” by Xi Zhang, in Indiana Daily Student (13 February 07):

But why is trust such a big deal in the business world? The answer was long ago revealed by Adam Smith, a revolutionary economist of the 18th century: "A dealer is afraid of losing his character, and is scrupulous in observing every engagement. When a person makes perhaps twenty contracts in a day, he cannot gain so much by endeavoring to impose on his neighbors, as the very appearance of a cheat would make him lose.

The success of a business always depends upon the favor and goodwill of its customers, and it cannot continue in the event of cheating or misdirection.”


Read Xi Zhang’s article at:

http://www.idsnews.com/news/story.php?id=40908&adid=business

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