RECOMMENDED READING
Modern economics was built on ideas spelled out by Adam Smith in his 18th-century The Wealth of Nations. But while he used the term only once in that economic treatise, Smith is most remembered for “the invisible hand,” a metaphor Oren Cass says has wrongly been associated with the idea that the pursuit of profit is always socially beneficial and that markets are somehow magically guided by that principal. Cass is the founder and chief economist at American Compass. In this podcast, he says the contortion of Smith’s idea led to a blind faith in markets, whereas “the invisible hand” was about ensuring the alignment between private profit and the public interest.
Recommended Reading
In Search Of The Invisible Hand
Adam Smith’s capitalism demands constraints on markets, not blind faith in them.
The Market’s Border Crisis
American Compass executive director Oren Cass makes the case that revitalizing the American industrial base requires moving beyond globalization.
Why the Free Trade Debate Needs the Real Adam Smith
Oren Cass is right to note that modern economists largely misunderstand Adam Smith. But the misunderstanding runs deeper and traces even further back than editorializing in 20th-century textbooks. For more than two centuries, scholars have ignored the relationship between Smith’s political philosophy and economic analysis.
