Erasing the Invisible Hand

Essays on an Elusive and Misused Concept in Economics

Business & Finance, Economics, Nonfiction, Social & Cultural Studies, Social Science
Cover of the book Erasing the Invisible Hand by Marianne F. Johnson, William H. Perry, Warren J. Samuels, Cambridge University Press
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Author: Marianne F. Johnson, William H. Perry, Warren J. Samuels ISBN: 9781139124195
Publisher: Cambridge University Press Publication: September 12, 2011
Imprint: Cambridge University Press Language: English
Author: Marianne F. Johnson, William H. Perry, Warren J. Samuels
ISBN: 9781139124195
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Publication: September 12, 2011
Imprint: Cambridge University Press
Language: English

This book examines the use, principally in economics, of the concept of the invisible hand, centering on Adam Smith. It interprets the concept as ideology, knowledge, and a linguistic phenomenon. It shows how the principal Chicago School interpretation misperceives and distorts what Smith believed on the economic role of government. The essays further show how Smith was silent as to his intended meaning, using the term to set minds at rest; how the claim that the invisible hand is the foundational concept of economics is repudiated by numerous leading economic theorists; that several dozen identities given the invisible hand renders the term ambiguous and inconclusive; that no such thing as an invisible hand exists; and that calling something an invisible hand adds nothing to knowledge. Finally, the essays show that the leading doctrines purporting to claim an invisible hand for the case for capitalism cannot invoke the term but that other nonnormative invisible hand processes are still useful tools.

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This book examines the use, principally in economics, of the concept of the invisible hand, centering on Adam Smith. It interprets the concept as ideology, knowledge, and a linguistic phenomenon. It shows how the principal Chicago School interpretation misperceives and distorts what Smith believed on the economic role of government. The essays further show how Smith was silent as to his intended meaning, using the term to set minds at rest; how the claim that the invisible hand is the foundational concept of economics is repudiated by numerous leading economic theorists; that several dozen identities given the invisible hand renders the term ambiguous and inconclusive; that no such thing as an invisible hand exists; and that calling something an invisible hand adds nothing to knowledge. Finally, the essays show that the leading doctrines purporting to claim an invisible hand for the case for capitalism cannot invoke the term but that other nonnormative invisible hand processes are still useful tools.

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