Sublime
An inspiration engine for ideas
By the eighteenth century, a new ideology was taking form, especially in Britain, that “greed is good” (to use a recent summary formulation), because greed spurs a society’s efforts and inventiveness. By giving vent to greed, the logic goes, societies can best harness the insatiable ambitions, great energies and ingenuity of their citizens. While g
... See moreJeffrey D. Sachs • The Ages of Globalization: Geography, Technology, and Institutions
Smith was trying to make a similar, Newtonian argument.3 God—or Divine Providence, as he put it—had arranged matters in such a way that our pursuit of self-interest would nonetheless, given an unfettered market, be guided “as if by an invisible hand” to promote the general welfare.
David Graeber • Debt: The First 5,000 Years,Updated and Expanded
Markets are underpinned by property rights, which are defined and enforced by the state. They are further shaped by company law, intellectual property law, employment law, taxation, regulation, the decisions of central banks and so on – and are administered through the use of courts, regulators and various other p
... See more