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Fall 2024

ISSN 0890-913X

Volume 39, Number 3

Categories: Fall 2024 | Smith, Adam’s invisible hand

As If: Clueless About the Invisible Hand

Sarah Skwire, Liberty Fund

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Skwire,Sarah.2024.“AsIf:CluelessAbouttheInvisibleHand.”JournalofPrivateEnterprise,39(3):21–39.AsIf:CluelessAbouttheInvisibleHandSarahSkwireLibertyFundUnitedStatesofAmericaAbstractThispaperexaminesthecausesandeffectsoftheroutineerrorofinsertingthewords“asif”intoAdamSmith’scommentsabouttheinvisiblehand,renderinghisobservationthat“ledbyaninvisiblehandtopromoteanendwhichwasnopartof[our]intention”intotheverydifferentassertionthatweareled“asifbyaninvisiblehand.”ThroughaconsiderationofSmith’sgrammarandstyleand,mostimportantly,Smith’scommentsonrhetoricalfiguresinhisLecturesonRhetoricandBellesLettres,thispaperdemonstratesthewaysinwhichthiscommonerrorbetraysSmith’sstrongopinionsaboutlinguisticprecisionandimportsapotentiallybiasedreadingofSmithintodiscussionsofthesekeymomentsinhistexts.JELCodes:B1,B2,B3Keywords:historyofeconomicthoughtI.IntroductionAdamSmith,fatherofmoderneconomics,isprobablybestknownforhisobservationthateachindividual,inpursuingtheirowngood,isledasifbyaninvisiblehandtoincreasethewelfareofothers.TheproblemisthatAdamSmithneversaidthat.WhatSmith([1776]1981)doessay,inTheWealthofNations,is:“Bypreferringthesupportofdomestictothatofforeignindustry,[anindividual]intendsonlyhisownsecurity;andbydirectingthatindustryinsuchamannerasitsproducemaybeofthegreatestvalue,heintendsonlyhisowngain;andheisinthis,asinmanyothercases,ledbyaninvisiblehandtopromoteanendwhichwasnopartofhisintention”(IV.ii.9).Andwhathedoessay,inTheTheoryofMoralSentiments,is:“[Therich]areledbyaninvisiblehandtomakenearlythesamedistributionofthenecessariesoflife,whichwouldhavebeenmade,hadtheearthbeendividedintoequalportionsamongallitsinhabitants,andthuswithoutintendingit,withoutknowingit,advancetheinterestofthesociety,andaffordmeanstothemultiplicationofthespecies”(Smith[1759]1982,IV.I.10).

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Metadata [hide]

Title	As If: Clueless About the Invisible Hand
Authors/Creators:	Sarah Skwire, Liberty Fund
Year:	2024
Volume:	39
Number:	3
Pages:	21 - 39
Publisher:	The Association of Private Enterprise Education
ISSN:	0890-913X
Document Type:	Articles
Keywords:	history of economic thought

Citation:
Skwire, Sarah / 2024. "As If: Clueless About the Invisible Hand." The Journal of Private Enterprise, 39(3): 21-39.