Comments on: Invisible hand theories, markets, and economies http://darwiniana.com/2008/09/28/invisible-hand-theories-markets-and-economies/ History, Evolution, and the Darwin Debate Sat, 11 Feb 2012 18:29:10 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 By: James http://darwiniana.com/2008/09/28/invisible-hand-theories-markets-and-economies/comment-page-1/#comment-189524 James Wed, 05 Nov 2008 16:57:33 +0000 http://darwiniana.com/?p=12696#comment-189524 "Although I take seriously a number of left views on economies, I certainly would not reject out of hand ‘invisble hand’ thinking for the functioning of markets, not entirely. Note the distinction, economies and markets. The term ‘inivisible hand’ is loaded, and is, ironically, a design term like natural selection, used to refer to a supposed mechanical process. Be that as it may, the point, it seems, in Adam Smith’s reasoning is that attempts to overcontrol markets backfires. Leave them alone, more or less." Can you elaborate on your views here? Would you say that we haven't seen the "free market" system that Adam Smith intended and hence we haven't seen the idea's true potential? “Although I take seriously a number of left views on economies, I certainly would not reject out of hand ‘invisble hand’ thinking for the functioning of markets, not entirely. Note the distinction, economies and markets. The term ‘inivisible hand’ is loaded, and is, ironically, a design term like natural selection, used to refer to a supposed mechanical process. Be that as it may, the point, it seems, in Adam Smith’s reasoning is that attempts to overcontrol markets backfires. Leave them alone, more or less.”

Can you elaborate on your views here? Would you say that we haven’t seen the “free market” system that Adam Smith intended and hence we haven’t seen the idea’s true potential?

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