Dispatch from Edinburgh
A study in contrasts
As the U.S. economy is “fluctuating wildly” (or, as some would say more bluntly, crashing), I am reminded that Scotland is the birthplace of the man who many refer to as the father of modern economics. While the Scots display their pride in Adam Smith with portraits in museums and a statue on the Royal Mile, the current U.S. administration is basing economic and trade policy on the “wisdom” of Ron Vara, an imaginary economist concocted by Trump’s equally sleazy financial advisor (and fellow convict).
Modern day economists may debate over some of Adam Smith’s ideas, but at least Smith based his economic theories mostly on what he experienced and observed. He may have been the originator of the concept of the “invisible hand” of the free market, but I’m quite certain he never talked or wrote about any “invisible economist.”
