John Paul Rollert diskuterar i New York Time’s blogg The Stone Adam Smith’s kidnappade och missförstådda begrepp den osynliga handen:
“Few phrases in Western philosophy have embedded themselves as deeply in the vernacular as Smith’s invisible hand, and no single image has ever so captivated (and occasionally inflamed) the popular mind. This has been the case for a while now — the intellectual historian Emma Rothschild called the 20th century “the epoch of the invisible hand”— but the financial crisis and the federal government’s response have recently made it a cause for celebration and debate.
This development would most likely have surprised Adam Smith. The invisible hand makes only three appearances in his work, all fleeting. Blink, and you will miss them.”
Och mer:
“Smith held that the sovereign had a role supporting education, building infrastructure and public institutions, and providing security from foreign and domestic threats — initiatives that should be paid for, in part, by a progressive tax code and duties on luxury goods. He even believed the government had a “duty” to protect citizens from “oppression,” the inevitable tendency of the strong to take advantage of the ignorance and necessity of the weak.”
Min egen tolkning av begreppet finns här.