The Pros and Cons of No One's in Charge

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Mike Downey: Adam Smith used the phrase 'the invisible hand' to describe moral sentiments once in the theory of economics. He says it doesn't mean what we use today, which is a process that works on its own and has a pretty good outcome. But he adds there's an enormous magical component that we don't understand or appreciate.downey: There's a lot of emerging or that's not good about our daily interactions with each other. We all want something else but when people try to do one thing they end up doing another.

Why is it that people in large cities like Paris or New York City people sleep peacefully, unworried about whether there will be enough bread or other necessities available for purchase the next morning? No one is in charge--no bread czar. No flour czar. And yet it seems to work remarkably well. Don Boudreaux of George Mason University and Michael Munger of Duke University join EconTalk host Russ Roberts to discuss emergent order and markets. The conversation includes a reading of Roberts's poem, "It's a Wonderful Loaf."