I am sorry to see someone as competent and creative as Mike Roberts misquoting Adam Smith on the "invisible hand" --
Here is what Roberts quoted: *“(Each individual) generally, indeed, neither intends to promote the public interest, nor knows how much he is promoting it…He intends only his own security; and by directing that industry in such a manner as its produce may be of the greatest value, he intends only his own gain, and he is in this, as in many other cases, led by an invisible hand to promote an end which was no part of his intention.”* *THE ELIPSESE MASKS the fact that Smith was using this concept to explain why an investor would PREFER domestic investments over investing overseas -- Here is the much longer quote with the words omitted by ROBERTS in bold* *Every individual is continually exerting himself to find out the most advantageous employment for whatever capital he can command ... the study of his own advantage naturally, or rather necessarily leads him to prefer that employment[image: page5image756343136] [image: page5image756343440] [image: page5image756343744]which is most advantageous to the society. First, every individual endeavours to employ his capital as near home as he can, and consequently as much as he can in the support of domestic industry ...Secondly, every individual who employs his capital in the support of domestic industry, necessarily endeavours so to direct that industry, that its produce may be of the greatest possible value ...As every individual, therefore, endeavours as much as he can both to employ his capital in the support of domestic industry, and so to direct that industry that its produce may be of the greatest value; every individual necessarily labours to render the annual revenue of the society as great as he can. ...By preferring the support of domestic to that of foreign industry, he intends only his own security; and by directing that industry in such a manner as its produce may be of the greatest value, he intends only his own gain, and he is in this, as in many other cases, led by an invisible hand to promote an end which was no part of his intention.(I: 475-7)14(END QUOTE)(I wrote an entire article about the misuse (by lots of textbook writers) of the "invisible hand" concept from Smith -- available from the Political Economy Research Institute at U Mass-Amherst)Smith used the invisible hand concept to argue that (in the context of the 18th century remember) private investors will ALWAYS prefer domestic investment to overseas investment for the reasons set out in that longer quote --- it is NOT a concept he used to justify laissez faire ---The worshippers of neo-classical economics as practiced today have a habit of DISTORTING Adam Smith's writings for their political purposes.Roberts would have done better to attack those distortions and not blame Smith for what modern hucksters have made of him.* On Mon, Mar 23, 2026 at 3:28 PM Joseph Green via groups.io <jgreen= [email protected]> wrote: > The URL for Michael Roberts' article got slightly mangled in what I > posted. Sorry. > It should be > > https://thenextrecession.wordpress.com/2026/03/14/adam-smith-250-years > > > > -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- Groups.io Links: You receive all messages sent to this group. View/Reply Online (#41233): https://groups.io/g/marxmail/message/41233 Mute This Topic: https://groups.io/mt/118471613/21656 -=-=- POSTING RULES & NOTES #1 YOU MUST clip all extraneous text when replying to a message. #2 This mail-list, like most, is publicly & permanently archived. #3 Subscribe and post under an alias if #2 is a concern. #4 Do not exceed five posts a day. -=-=- Group Owner: [email protected] Unsubscribe: https://groups.io/g/marxmail/leave/13617172/21656/1316126222/xyzzy [[email protected]] -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
