the triumph {drawing of}
“Art is about as dangerous as literature. But you could also say: it’s about as dangerous as philosophy, which means it’s about as dangerous as Marxism. It’s dangerous in the way literature is dangerous: it raises ideas, it changes minds and cultures. But you can never predict the ways it will do so, which is one of its strengths. Just like you can’t predict whether a political philosophy will change cultures. What did Adam Smith know when he was writing? How could Marx have known what would happen with his ideas? How could Victor Hugo predict how his writings would affect people’s perceptions of poverty?”
~Jennifer Gonzalez
Posted by jeff pitcher at September 6, 2005 11:52 AM
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One of the most fascinating things about Adam Smith's writings is that his most famous contribution to economics is his use of a metaphor of a great, powerful hand that constantly makes market forces even out. If you built ugly green bicycles, for example, and you are the only one, you can charge whatever you want. But several forces change your ability to do this: One is what people are actually willing to spend on ugly green bicycles; another is your neighbor who sees what you're charging and starts building even uglier green bicycles. Hence, the market becomes even again.
What's interesting in view of the Jennifer Gonzalez quote is that Smith's use of the metaphor is essentially relegated to a sentence of two in the middle of a tremendously long, long, long volume. He probably didn't even think of that metaphor for more than a minute. After all, he discards it almost immediately and moves on to his next thought. But when we think of Adam Smith's contributions to economic thought, we think of his metaphor: Adam Smith's "invisible hand." Amazing.
Posted by: Christian Kiefer at September 11, 2005 10:35 PM
