How then would Adam Smith fix the present mess? Sorry, but it is fixed already. The answer to a decline in the value of speculative assets is to pay less for them. Job done.
We could pump the banks full of our national treasure. But Smith said: “To attempt to increase the wealth of any country, either by introducing or by detaining in it an unnecessary quantity of gold and silver, is as absurd as it would be to attempt to increase the good cheer of private families, by obliging them to keep an unnecessary number of kitchen utensils.” [440]
We could send in the experts to manage our bail-out. But Smith said: “I have never known much good done by those who affect to trade for the public good.” [456]
And we could nationalise our economies. But Smith said: “The state cannot be very great of which the sovereign has leisure to carry on the trade of a wine merchant or apothecary”. [818] Or chairman of General Motors.
Wednesday, February 11, 2009
PJ O'Rourke on Adam Smith
In today's FT...
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Have you read PJ's book on Smith. A couple of hundred pages of stuff just like that...
ReplyDeleteReminds me of my favorite lines from Lawrence of Arabia:
"Look, sir, we can't just do nothing."
"Why not? It's usually best."