Tuesday, March 31, 2009

Why Bother With Adam Smith?

Mark Thoma of the authoritative Economist's View Blog re-posts my 'Thought for the Day - 3' posts of yesterday HERE, as 'Why Bother With Adam Smith?'

There are several interesting comments from his readers, to one of which I penned a response, explaining why Lost Legacy seeks to defend Adam Smith's Legacy from its virtual hyjack by Chicago in the 1930s and the consequencies of attributing to Adam Smith their fallacious ideas about self-interested corporations.

Interestingly, the intervening period between the 1930s depression and today's is a clear example of what goes wrong with misreading the history of economics.

Those who do not understand the past are condemned to repeat it, sooner or later.

It's not that Adam Smith had the answers to modern depressions; it's that inventions about his alleged views that justify modern interpretations of the appropriate policies - let self-interest rule whatever the self-interests of the players - leave policy determination to whatever is sellable electorally or enforceable politically; surely a rash form of civil governance?

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