Quote of the Week

"In the midst of all the exactions of government, capital has been silently and gradually accumulated by the private frugality and good conduct of individuals, by their universal, continual, and uninterrupted effort to better their own condition. It is this effort, protected by law and allowed by liberty to exert itself in the manner that is most advantageous, which has maintained the progress of England towards opulence and improvement in almost all former times...

It is the highest impertinence and presumption, therefore, in kings and ministers, to pretend to watch over the economy of private people, and to restrain their expense... They are themselves always, and without any exception, the greatest spendthrifts in the society. Let them look well after their own expense, and they may safely trust private people with theirs. If their own extravagance does not ruin the state, that of their subjects never will."

Adam Smith
The Wealth of Nations, Book II, Chapter III

Mr. Smith Goes to Washington

Now, more than ever, we need Mr. Smith in Washington.  The principles and ideas introduced by Adam Smith in "An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations" brought a great measure of liberty and prosperity into this world.  The publication of his book back in 1776 had great influence over the minds of the founding fathers of this great nation.

On the FEE website this morning, Mr. Lawrence W. Reed has published a short, two-page reminder of some of the revolutionary ideas presented by Adam Smith.  For instance, consider the power of this one idea:  “The natural effort of every individual to better his own condition . . . is so powerful, that it is alone, and without any assistance, not only capable of carrying on the society to wealth and prosperity, but of surmounting a hundred impertinent obstructions with which the folly of human laws too often encumbers its operations.”

It is interesting that our nation is at a point where the ideas of Adam Smith are again revolutionary.