Quotation of the Day…

by Don Boudreaux on November 10, 2018

in Adam Smith, Reality Is Not Optional

… is from page 46 of Matt Ridley’s excellent 1997 book, The Origins of Virtue (footnote excluded):

Indeed, [Adam] Smith pointed out that benevolence is inadequate for the task of building cooperation in a large society, because we are irredeemably biased in our benevolence to relatives and close friends; a society built on benevolence would be riddled with nepotism. Between strangers, the invisible hand of the market, distributing selfish ambitions, is fairer.

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