Tag: adam smith
Car crashes and hockey fights — how safety mandates can make life more dangerous
January 16, 2017 | Post
Suppose you want to reduce deaths in automobile accidents. Should you make cars safer? Seems like a no-brainer, right? But consider: suppose instead of an airbag in your steering column, we put a six-inch dagger.
The robber barons weren't robbers. Here's why.
January 5, 2017 | Post
Among the great misconceptions of the free economy is the widely-held belief that “laissez faire” embodies a natural tendency toward monopoly concentration.
Why Isn't There Chaos When Traffic Lights Malfunction?
September 5, 2016 | Post
Unplanned order spontaneously emerges when government micromanaging is eliminated.
Venezuela, Socialism, and The Unlearned Lessons of Political Economy
June 15, 2016 | Post
The news from Venezuela just keeps getting worse: runaway inflation, rolling electricity blackouts, shortages of even the most basic goods, people dying in hospitals waiting for care that just doesn’t ever arrive. The world looks on, appalled at the spreading miseries, and asks: “Why is this happening?” And, “What can be done about it?” These […]
Did you know that Adam Smith coined the term the “Invisible Hand”?
January 28, 2016 | Post
The term “invisible hand” is a metaphor coined by Adam Smith to describe unintended social benefits resulting from individual actions. The term first appeared in Smith’s Theory of Moral Sentiments, written in 1759. You can read the Theory of Moral Sentiments online here, or check out Learn Liberty’s video on the topic below: