Hanging with History

66. Adam Smith Part 5, The Wealth of Nations continued

July 01, 2021 Harald Hansen Season 1 Episode 66
Hanging with History
66. Adam Smith Part 5, The Wealth of Nations continued
Show Notes

How does opulence among nations arise?  Smith describes a Newtonian system of non violent market competition operating through the price mechanism which can generate a life for the working poor that is many steps up from the usual run of human misery that everywhere else prevails.  That process also leads to a peaceful idyllic countryside, as a surprising outcome.  

This episode goes into how market competition is a grand form of mutual cooperation leading to the best solution to the Great Coordination problem, at least as applied to economic life.

This is the dog episode where 3 dog examples are used to highlight human behavioral tendencies.