The Invisible Hand

Thanks to Jane Shaw at Liberty and Power for the heads up about a wonderful discussion between Gavin Kennedy and Dan Klein over the meaning and significance of the invisible hand in the Econ Journal Watch

Peter Minowitz concludes his essay, “Adam Smith’s Invisible
with the following words: “Centuries after Smith’s death, we are still struggling
fathom a two-word phrase that stands out in a thousand-page book.”

Gavin's position

Gavin asserts:

The metaphor of an invisible hand is just a metaphor and modern wonder over
its meaning is, well, meaningless.

Klein' response

William D. Grampp contends:

There are nine different interpretations of it that I have seen (which cannot be all of them), and there is a tenth.

the force that makes the interest of one the interest of others,

(2) the price mechanism,

(3) a figure for the idea of unintended consequences,

(4) competition,

(5) the mutual advantage in exchange,

(6) a joke,

(7) an evolutionary process,

(8) providence, and

(9) the force that restrains the export of capital.

from

What Did Smith Mean by the Invisible Hand?
Author(s): William D. Grampp

Source: The Journal of Political Economy, Vol. 108, No. 3 (Jun., 2000), pp. 441-465
Published by: The University of Chicago Press