Quotation of the Day…
by Don Boudreaux
on July 17, 2026
… is from page 77 of Jerry Z. Muller’s 1993 book, Adam Smith In His Time and Ours [original emphasis]:
Smith did not believe that there was a natural harmony of interests in society. He believed that the public interest would be best served if every man channeled his self-interest through the market. But he realized that from the point of view of the individual producer or group of producers it was most beneficial to circumvent the competitive market with its attendant risks, and use all available means to prevent competition, in order to obtain the highest possible price for their wares.
DBx: Yep. And as Smith understood, no scheme to circumvent market competition in order to enable the few to profit at the larger expense of the many is more pernicious than protectionism.
…..
Smith died on this date – July 17th – in 1790.
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