Has the Invisible Hand Given You a Nudge Recently?

Encouraging businesses and consumers to interact productively as they pursue their self-interest, Adam Smith’s invisible hand moves a market’s participants.

Adam Smith and Traffic Lights

Located 30 miles from Cape Cod, Massachusetts, the island of Nantucket has no traffic lights. Instead, drivers respond to stop signs, rotaries, and courtesy. More often than not, if a pedestrian, a walker, or a biker needs to cross the…

The Income Inequality That Doesn't Bother Us

When people talk about the top 1%, they are probably not thinking about NY Yankees shortstop Derek Jeter or Seattle’s MLS forward, Clint Dempsey. For 2014, Jeter signed a $12 million contract and Dempsey makes close to $5 million. However, they all take us to income inequality. Using…

Dilemmas From the “Sharing Economy”

Today’s story is specifically about Airbnb. More generally though, it involves whether government or the market system should regulate the “sharing economy.” But first–Craigslist and the Sharing Economy from xkcd: An apartment owner in Astoria, Queens (a subway ride from…

The Big Impact of a Little Salamander

The woodland salamander made me think of Adam Smith. In North American forests, wherever it is dark and damp, under a rock or a log, a very hungry salamander could be devouring her daily diet. Eating 20 ants, 2 flies…