"Some see the Invisible Hand quote as applying to only international trade issues (the specific topic) while others generalize it."
Yes, Jim, I remember Rothschild making exactly that point, but I am not quite following it. Thank you for making this point. Smith makes reference to the invisible hand in the course of a critique of mercantilism? But then why would not that argument for freer trade apply more generally? Or why would it have special force in the critique of mercantilism in particular? I do remember her suggesting that some of Smith's skepticism of state intervention resulted from his suspicion that the state would most likely intervene on the behalf of business monopolies! So is the point that freer trade can bolster the wealth of nations to the extent that it undermines state control of the economy in the service of established monopolies? OK I'll have to reread Rothschild. LR
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