Why is Adam Smith so optimistic about a lassez faire economy?
He wasn’t. He was very pessimistic. “People of the same trade seldom meet together, even for merriment and diversion, but the conversation ends in a conspiracy against the public, or in some contrivance to raise prices.” (I, 10, 82) But he was equally pessimistic about much of the government intervention in the economy http://adamsmithslostlegacy.blogspot.com… He was never laissez-faire in the modern sense. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Wealth_… http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Laissez-fai… – He complained that the laws against workers organizing were far too strict while there was no action taken against the owners organizing. – He often harshly criticized those who act purely out of self-interest and greed, and warns
