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Smith's first use of the invisible hand metaphor occurs in The Theory of Moral Sentiments (1759) in Part IV, Chapter 1, where he describes a selfish landlord being led by an invisible hand to distribute his harvest to those who work for him. This passage concerns the distribution of wealth: the poor receive the "necessities of life" after the ...
Smith used the term "the invisible hand" in "History of Astronomy" [86] referring to "the invisible hand of Jupiter", and once in each of his The Theory of Moral Sentiments [87] (1759) and The Wealth of Nations [88] (1776). This last statement about "an invisible hand" has been interpreted in numerous ways.
In a discussion of import tariffs Adam Smith wrote that: . Every individual necessarily labours to render the annual revenue of the society as great as he can... He is in this, as in many other ways, led by an invisible hand to promote an end which was no part of his intention...
These economists produced a theory of market economies as largely self-regulating systems, governed by natural laws of production and exchange (famously captured by Adam Smith's metaphor of the invisible hand). Adam Smith's The Wealth of Nations in 1776 is usually considered to mark the beginning of classical economics. [3]
Rational choice theory looks at three concepts: rational actors, self interest and the invisible hand. [4] Rationality can be used as an assumption for the behaviour of individuals in a wide range of contexts outside of economics. It is also used in political science, [5] sociology, [6] and philosophy. [7]
Adam Smith focused on the role of enlightened self-interest (the "invisible hand") and the role of specialization in promoting the efficiency of capital accumulation. Ayn Rand defined capitalism as a social system based on the recognition of individual rights, including property rights, in which all property is privately owned, and called it ...
In economics the "visible hand" is generally considered to be the macro-fiscal policy of John Keynes that emerged in the 1930s as a remedy for the shortcomings of Adam Smith's "invisible hand" and advocated government intervention in the economy. [4] Actually, Smith already identified the disadvantages of the "invisible hand". [5]
This idea is sometimes referred to as Adam Smith's invisible hand. [4] The second theorem states that with further restrictions, any Pareto efficient outcome can be achieved through a competitive market equilibrium, [ 3 ] provided that a social planner uses a social welfare function to choose the most equitable efficient outcome and then uses ...