...support of industry; and he will always, therefore, endeavor to employ it in the support of that industry of which the produce is likely to be of the greatest value, or to exchange for the greatest quantity either of money or of other goods. But the annual revenue...

...state are less likely than private entrepreneurs to know how to invest their "capital." He explains: What is the species of domestic industry which his...statesman, who should attempt to direct private people in what manner they ought to employ their capitals, would not only load himself with a most unnecessary...

...knowledge that shape the market. As Smith wrote in the paragraph after his reference to the invisible hand: "What is the species of domestic industry which his...statesman or lawgiver can do for him. The statesman [would] assume an authority . . . which would nowhere be so dangerous as in the hands of a man who...

...guiding social policy to the optimal outcome. In Smith's words: [O]f which the produce is likely to be the greatest value, every individual, it is evident,...statesman, who should attempt to direct private people in what manner they ought to employ their capitals, would not only load himself with a most unnecessary...

...possesses are in certain sectors more appropriate and well-calibrated than those of the political operator: "every individual, it is evident, can, in his local...statesman, who should attempt to direct private people in what manner they ought to employ their capitals, would not only load himself a most unnecessary attention,...

...know about their fellow human beings, especially those they observe often. Hence "every individual can, in his local situation, judge much better than any statesman or lawgiver can do for him" (WN 456). We come here to what Knud Haakonssen calls Smith's notion of "contextual knowledge": "the...

...administration of justice." Smith was especially emphatic in criticizing any state allocation of investment: man or lawgiver can do for him. The statesman, who should attempt to direct private people in what manner they ought to employ their capitals, would not only load himself with a most unnecessary...

...of industry; and he will always, therefore, endeavour to employ it in the support of that industry of which the produce is likely to be of the greatest value, or to exchange for the greatest quantity either of money or of other goods. But the annual revenue...

...of industry ; and he will always, therefore, endeavour to employ it in the support of that industry of which the produce is likely to be of the greatest value, or to exchange for the greatest quantity either of money or of other goods. But the annual revenue...

...markets to their dependence on the judgment of the individual owner of capital. Thus, according to Smith, "every individual, it is evident, can, in his local...judge much better than any statesman or lawgiver" what species of industry "is likely to be of the greatest value" (1937: 423).' Because knowledge is...