invisible hand

noun

Etymology

Coined by Adam Smith in The Wealth of Nations. Influenced by and echoing earlier use as "the hand of God". See Etymology citations.

Definitions

  1. A metaphor for the principle that in a free market, an individual pursuing his own…

    A metaphor for the principle that in a free market, an individual pursuing his own self-interest also tends to promote the good of his community as a whole.

    • In short, Smith understood that the invisible hand is often benign, but not always.

The neighborhood

Vish — recursive loop

No curated loop yet for invisible hand. Loops are being traced one word at a time while the ingestion pipeline matures.

sense glosses and etymology drawn from English Wiktionary · source · CC-BY-SA