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Free Market Policies and Welfare

Free market policies and welfare
The individual and the market.
"When an individual seeks his own advantage and not that of the society he is, as in many other cases, led by an invisible hand to promote an end which was no part of his intention. Nor is it always the worse for the society that it was not part of it. By pursuing his own interest he frequently promotes that of the society more effectively than when he really intends to promote it".
(Smith 1776 in Anderson & Ricci 1980 p.253)

"One can go and talk for the under-privileged endlessly, but unless you've got the resources to change their state it's just wind, isn't it? What we actually need is to create the means to do something about all the ills that so many people complain of".
(Tebbit in Young & Sloman 1986 p.27)

The above quotes illustrate two aspects of free-market arguments relating to social policy. The first, taken from Adam Smith's influential "The Wealth of Nations" outlines the theoretical basis of liberal...

Posted by: Shelia Olander

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