A fresh light on the Invisible Hand

Writing 225 years ago, Adam Smith created an enduring work of economic analysis that still provides meaningful insights for today’s events. Alan Krueger’s NY Times column Rediscovering ‘The Wealth of Nations’ points out that although conservative politicians are quick to use him as bolstering their positions on issues such as taxation, but Krueger quotes Smith as saying “It is not very unreasonable that the rich should contribute to the public expence, not only in proportion to their revenue, but something more than in that proportion.”

While Krueger’s column (he’s been writing for the Times regularly) is interesting and worth reading before it disappears into the Times “premium” archives (that is, pay to read), the main reason for this entry is that he is an old Livingston (NJ) High School friend of mine. Currently a professor at Princeton University, he is the Thoman and Bendheim Professor of of Economics and Public Policy and Director of the Survey Research Center at Princeton’s Woodrow Wilson School. In the mid-90s he also served all of us as chief economist of the U.S. Department of Labor.