Political economy | March 2025In Search of the Invisible HandAdam Smith’s capitalism demands constraints on markets, not blind faith in themOREN CASSOren Cass on the Invisible HandModern economics was built on ideas spelled out by Adam Smith in his 18th-century The Wealth of Nations. But while he used the term only once in that voluminous economic treatise, Smith is most remembered for “the invisible hand,” a metaphor that Oren Cass says has wrongly been associated with the idea that markets magically self-correct. Cass is the founder and chief economist at American Compass. In this podcast, he says the contortion of Smith’s idea led to a blind faith in markets, whereas “the invisible hand” was really about ensuring the alignment between private profit and the public interest. OREN CASSSee AlsoMagazine ArchivesCountry FocusBlogs
