LOONY TUNES no. 162

1

Gary Horton, a Santa Clarita resident, posts (16 August) on the Santa Clarita Signal  HERE http://www.signalscv.com/section/33/article/155619/

“Yes, we can allow the nearly magical “invisible hand of capitalism” to do its thing. Our problem, however, as indicated in the letter above, is that we don’t have an invisible hand of capitalism — we have a “manipulated hand” – with backroom deals distributing taxpayer funds to private industry, all hidden from general public view.”

2

The NEWS (17th August) reports HERE

“Naira dips further against dollar”

“Owoh said that the increase in the forex allocated to BDCs by the apex bank was in the right direction.

He said that the Central Bank of Nigeria’s (CBN) decision was “a futuristic comment targeted at stifling the invisible hand of currency speculators’’.

Comment

There is nothing ‘invisible’ about the activities of “currency speculators” because they offer VISIBLE prices upon which currency speculators can decide to buy or sell from which the consequences in changing prices will be VISIBLE. Markets work and can only work with VISIBLE prices.

3

Ravindra Upparl posts (19 August) in The Times of India HERE 

“Karnataka coach's invisible hand in Sakshi's success”

4

Peter Keough posts (19 July) on Boston Globe HERE

“Devoid of any voice-over, talking heads, or text, Roberto Minervini’s documentary about meth addicts and militiamen in the Louisiana bayou country immerses you unescorted, except by the invisible hand of the editing process, in an alien but strangely familiar part of America. Using techniques similar to those applied by Harvard’s Sensory Ethnography Lab in films like “Foreign Parts” and “Sweetgrass,” it opens up a part of America about which few have a clue and fewer care.”

5

Tristan Edis posts (19 July) on RENEW economy HERE 

“Energy Ministers – there is no crisis and the market is working

“So there is in fact quite a degree of flexibility in how renewable energy projects can be configured and located that allows developers to better align generation with when electricity is in greatest demand. So rather than causing black-outs and increased power prices the invisible hand is working to encourage renewable energy companies to do precisely the opposite.”

COMMENT

Apart from the misuse of the ‘invisible hand’ metaphor as above, this is an excellent exposition of the economics of what is happening in this renewable industry in Australia. The common resort to mystification of the affects of VISIBLE price changes, without which markets would not work, is a modern phenomenon for which there is no explanation. The title is totally sufficient in itself, supported by a well-written exposition. 

Pity about dragging in the modern myth of an IH…

6

John Authers posts (19 August) on Financial Times HERE 

“Is Greed Good? No, it’s seriously bad fory our wealth”

“But there is also a noble intellectual tradition that holds that it is good for the economy. For the Scottish enlightenment thinker David Hume, it was “the spur of industry” — which helped to drive the “invisible hand” of the market as discovered by his fellow countryman Adam Smith.”

COMMENT

Adam Smith did not "discover" anything about an "invisible hand of the market".