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Yes. The "invisible hand" reference in Wealth of Nations is probably the most egregiously misused term in history. It's only mentioned once in the entire work,
by vannevar 5y ago
Yes. The "invisible hand" reference in Wealth of Nations is probably the most egregiously misused term in history. It's only mentioned once in the entire work, and as you point out, the context is completely different from that to which it is usually (and incorrectly) applied.
The phrase is commonly used to promote the idea that markets are self-regulating, requiring no state oversight, because they supposedly trend toward some form of equilibrium. In reality they do no such thing, for there is no equilibrium to trend towards.