The Leo Apostel Center

invites everyone to the 48 th of its interdisciplinary seminars in the
Foundations series. In this series CLEA invites scholars that are
actively engaged in the research on the foundations of a particular
discipline. Their lectures will always be directed to an
interdisciplinary audience, and the discussions aim at confronting
the foundations of the different disciplines.



      The Myth of Adam Smith and the Invisible Hand
      *********************************************


                    Michael V. White
                    ****************


Friday 13 oktober 2000, 5 pm, at the CLEA house, Krijgskundestraat 33,
1160 Brussels.

Abstract: Possibly the most well known metaphor from economics is 'the
invisible hand'. Attributed to Adam Smith in his 'Wealth of Nations'
(1776) the argument is commonly taken to mean that `a competitive
market allows the natural interplay of self-interest to produce an
efficient allocation of resources'. In representing Smith as a
proponent of `laissez-faire', this picture usually misunderstands the
restrictive conditions if an efficient allocation is to result in a
market. It also misrepresents Smith's reference to the invisible hand
and his attitude to state intervention. Given this, it is perhaps not
surprising that the usual identification of Smith and the Invisible
hand is a textbook invention of the mid-twentieth century.

Michael V. White is Senior Lecturer at the Department of Economics,
Monash University, Australia.  His fields of inquiry include economic
theory, political economy and the history of economic thought.  He
published numerous articles on the economic thought of W. S. Jevons.