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The first NBA Finals game in Manhattan since 1999 had Madison Square rocking.

10 Enduring Lessons From Adam Smith

Authored by Nikolai G. Wenzel via The Daily Economy,

Adam Smith (1723-1790) is widely considered to be the father of modern economics. There were precursors, such as the School of Salamanca and the French Physiocrats, but Adam Smith's 1776 magnum opus, "An Inquiry Into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations," was the first comprehensive treatise.

A statue of Adam Smith in Edinburgh, Scotland, in a file photo. Travel Telly/Shutterstock

In this 250th anniversary year, much ink will be spilled - and with good reason - celebrating the legacy of Adam Smith. My purpose here is as joyous as it is modest: to share ten quotations that are particularly relevant today, and demonstrate Adam Smith's enduring influence. I like to weave them into my lectures - on markets, on political economy, on constitutional economics, or on the moral foundations of capitalism. Adam Smith, in the versatility of his writings, was indeed a man for all seasons.

1. The Invisible Hand Acts

"[B]y directing that industry in such a manner as its produce may be of the greatest value, he intends only his own gain, and he is in this, as in many other cases, led by an invisible hand to promote an end which was no part of his intention .... By pursuing his own interest he frequently promotes that of the society more effectually than when he really intends to promote it. I have never known much good done by those who affected to trade for the public good."

Perhaps the single best-known concept from Adam Smith, the invisible hand was famously picked up by the Austrian school of economics and its key lesson of spontaneous order. F.A. Hayek, especially, noted the importance of phenomena that were "the result of human action, but not of human design." Alas, interventionists of all stripes still think they can supersede the invisible hand of the market.

2. People Are Not Pawns

The flip side of the invisible hand involves social and economic engineering. Adam Smith was prescient in describing the psychology of social engineers, those self-proclaimed experts who believe, in their hubris, that they can run an entire economy.

"The man of system ... is apt to be very wise in his own conceit; and is often so enamored with the supposed beauty of his own ideal plan of government, that he cannot suffer the smallest deviation from any part of it. He goes on to establish it completely and in all its parts, without any regard either to the great interests, or to the strong prejudices which may oppose it. He seems to imagine that he can arrange the different members of a great society with as much ease as the hand arranges the different pieces upon a chess-board. He does not consider that the pieces upon the chess-board have no other principle of motion besides that which the hand impresses upon them; but that, in the great chess-board of human society, every single piece has a principle of motion of its own, altogether different from that which the legislature might choose to impress upon it."

3. Collective Action Can't Be Imposed

The "man of system" quotation is long enough that it bears cutting in two. In the second part, Smith laments the unintended consequences of social engineering. If the policymaker is cautious and respects both human nature and local knowledge, the results can be a marginal improvement over the status quo - this is the basis of Buchanan and Tullock's theory of collective action through the state.

"If those two principles coincide and act in the same direction, the game of human society will go on easily and harmoniously, and is very likely to be happy and successful. If they are opposite or different, the game will go on miserably, and the society must be at all times in the highest degree of disorder."

4. Markets Coordinate Effort

Adam Smith's key theoretical contribution is the division of labor. But this is not merely an economic model, to be calculated with production charts by eager students of microeconomics. For Smith, it is something more, an instrument of cooperation to overcome the limitations of human beings:

"This division of labor, from which so many advantages are derived, is not originally the effect of any human wisdom .... It is the necessary, though very slow and gradual, consequence of a certain propensity in human nature ..., the propensity to truck, barter, and exchange one thing for another."

The division of labor solves a social problem:

"It is thus that man, who can subsist only in society, was fitted by nature to that situation for which he was made. All the members of human society stand in need of each others' assistance, and are likewise exposed to mutual injuries. Where the necessary assistance is reciprocally afforded from love, from gratitude, from friendship, and esteem, the society flourishes and is happy. All the different members of it are bound together by the agreeable bands of love and affection, and are, as it were, drawn to one common centre of mutual good offices.

"But though the necessary assistance should not be afforded from such generous and disinterested motives, though among the different members of the society there should be no mutual love and affection, the society, though less happy and agreeable, will not necessarily be dissolved. Society may subsist among different men, as among different merchants, from a sense of its utility, without any mutual love or affection; and though no man in it should owe any obligation, or be bound in gratitude to any other, it may still be upheld by a mercenary exchange of good offices according to an agreed valuation."

5. Self-Interest Actually Helps Everyone

Smith was excited about the potential for markets to align incentives. In another famous quip, he reminded us that markets transform private interest into public harmony:

"It is not from the benevolence of the butcher, the brewer, or the baker that we expect our dinner, but from their regard to their own interest."

In more recent terms, we are reminded of Deirdre McCloskey and Art Carden, both fellows of AIER. The title of their book speaks for itself: "Leave Me Alone, and I'll Make You Rich: How the Bourgeois Deal Enriched the World."

6. Permissionless Societies Create Prosperity

The bourgeois deal has alternately been described in Physiocrat A.R.J. Turgot's plea: "laissez-faire, laissez-passer" - let us act, let us pass. Ever the professor of moral sentiments, and not just the founder of modern economics, Smith was quick to show that the bourgeois deal was instrumentally good, indeed - but it was also the grounding for a free society:

"Every man, as long as he does not violate the laws of justice, is left perfectly free to pursue his own interest in his own way."

7. Cooperation Connects Us

Smith's first major work, "The Theory of Moral Sentiments" (1759), predated "The Wealth of Nations" by almost two decades. While demonstrating how markets advance the public good by appealing to and channeling private interests, Smith made it clear that human beings are fundamentally creatures of cooperation:

"How selfish 'soever man may be supposed, there are evidently some principles in his nature, which interest him in the fortune of others, and render their happiness necessary to him, though he derives nothing from it except the pleasure of seeing it."

8. Individual Responsibility... With Limits

While emphasizing the importance of individual responsibility, Smith was also realistic about the limitations of what human beings could do. He warned:

"The administration of the great system of the universe ... is the business of God and not of man. To man is allotted a much humbler department, but one much more suitable to the weakness of his powers, and to the narrowness of his comprehension; the care of his own happiness, of that of his family, his friends, his country: that he is occupied in contemplating the more sublime, can never be an excuse for his neglecting the more humble department."

In a similar spirit, Ludwig von Mises explained in his 1927 book, "Liberalism": "[Classical] liberalism limits its concern entirely and exclusively to earthly life and earthly endeavor. The kingdom of religion, on the other hand, is not of this world. Thus, liberalism and religion could both exist side by side without their spheres' touching." Smith, Mises, and the classical liberal tradition stand as a foil against the busybodies - on the right and on the left - who would attempt to administer the universe through temporal means.

9. Collusion Threatens Competition

If Smith was worried about the political "man of systems," he was also worried about business colluding against the consumer, instead of serving the market through competition.

"People of the same trade seldom meet together, even for merriment and diversion, but the conversation ends in a conspiracy against the public, or in some contrivance to raise prices ..."

Smith cautioned us, however, against state efforts to prevent industry collusion:

"It is impossible indeed to prevent such meetings, by any law which either could be executed, or would be consistent with liberty and justice ..."

But he did offer a solution, in the form of more free trade, and fewer regulations to discourage competition:

"But though the law cannot hinder people of the same trade from sometimes assembling together, it ought to do nothing to facilitate such assemblies; much less to render them necessary."

10. Institutions Drive Economic Growth

I am an institutional economist. I first came to economics from a preoccupation with economic development and ending, or at least abating, poverty. With economist Robert Lucas, if not with the same success, I am obsessed with such questions. When observing that some countries are rich and others poor, and that some grow slowly and others quickly, he commented:

"I do not see how one can look at figures like these without seeing them as representing possibilities. Is there some action a government of India could take that would lead the Indian economy to grow like Indonesia's or Egypt's? If so, what, exactly? If not, what is it about the 'nature of India' that makes it so? The consequences for human welfare involved in questions like these are simply staggering: once one starts to think about them, it is hard to think about anything else."

International development is infuriating, for two reasons. First, it has been a massive failure - well, international aid has been a massive and expensive failure; behind the futile efforts of the men and women of systems, markets have been plugging along, and poverty has fallen radically in the past 200 years. Second, because the recipe for growth is so obvious. It works every time it's applied, from the United States and Western Europe in the early 1800s to China after Mao's death and India after the end of the licensing raj, and to every country that embraced globalization and market reforms.

It's the recipe that Smith offered as early as 1755, twenty years before "The Wealth of Nations," and well before the Enlightenment ideals were translated into economic policy:

"Little else is requisite to carry a state to the highest degree of opulence from the lowest barbarism but peace, easy taxes, and a tolerable administration of justice, [... the] rest being brought about by the natural course of things."

This quotation is thought to come from a transcript of a 1755 Adam Smith lecture, from Dugald Stewart's lecture notes.

In more modern language, peace is obvious, as is low and transparent taxation. A "tolerable administration of justice" might be translated as rule of law. Taken together, we have economic freedom, which is closely correlated with growth and wealth. Instead of fancy macroeconomic policies, imposed from the top down by the men and women of systems, the New Development Economics proposes a radical and simple solution. Focus on microeconomics, institutions, incentives, and the transmission of knowledge in the Austrian tradition.

Smith warned us what happens when the basic conditions for economic growth are ignored by conceited policymakers and politicians:

"All governments which thwart this natural course, which force things into another channel, or which endeavor to arrest the progress of society at a particular point, are unnatural, and to support themselves are obliged to be oppressive and tyrannical."

Tyranny is the midwife of poverty; liberty, of prosperity.

Reprinted from The Daily Economy, a publication of the American Institute for Economic Research (AIER).

Tyler Durden Mon, 06/08/2026 - 23:25

It’s one rule for the President — and another for Cardi B. The rapper and singer, who performed at the New York Knicks versus San Antonio Spurs Game 3 of the NBA Finals Monday, showed off a $7,000 Chanel purse as she Instagrammed from celebrity row. This was despite the strict no-bag rule in place...

Much like the Madison Square Garden crowd, Charles Barkley couldn't keep him eyes off Cardi B's Game 3 halftime performance.

Report Says Cuba Mobilizing Militias As U.S. Invasion Fears On The Rise

Weeks after Cuba's leader warned that any U.S. military action against the communist-controlled Caribbean island nation would be a "bloodbath" and risk destabilizing the region, local media reported that the regime had begun handing out weapons to ordinary citizens. Other reports, however, dispute that claim and suggest Havana is instead mobilizing its territorial militias. Either way, the signal is hard to ignore: Cuba is shifting into a higher defensive posture.

Venezuelan news outlet Diario Versión Final reports:

The Havana government has begun distributing weapons to ordinary citizens, officially urging them to prepare for an imminent foreign invasion.

However, The Times and The Sunday Times reporter Stephen Gibbs said reports that Cuba is handing out weapons to civilians are not true "for obvious reasons," adding, "It is mobilizing its milicias de tropas territoriales, and some weapons have reportedly been handed to firefighters, etc."

No, Cuba has not begun distributing weapons to civilians, for obvious reasons. It is mobilising its milicias de tropas territoriales and some weapons have reportedly been handed to firefighters etc.

— Stephen Gibbs (@STHGibbs) June 7, 2026

Additional militia report:

🚨Alert: The Communist Cuban government has started to distribute AK-47 machine guns to civilian militia members, urging the public to fight the ‘gringos’ and prepare for an imminent American invasion!! pic.twitter.com/5EVtZzZwZu

— US Homeland Security News (@defense_civil25) June 7, 2026

Last week, the U.S. slapped sanctions on Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel, his wife Lis Cuesta Peraza, his stepson Manuel Anido Cuesta, and members of the Castro family as the Trump administration mounts a six-month economic pressure campaign against the communist regime. Other sanctions targeted Cuban foreign influence networks tied to U.S. left-wing NGOs.

The escalation in the pressure campaign comes as the growing U.S. naval presence in the region is described as the largest outside the Middle East, with the USS Nimitz carrier strike group, guided-missile destroyers and cruisers, surveillance aircraft, and drones operating near the island.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio recently said Havana is "in a lot of trouble," warning that a failed state just south of Florida represents a national security threat.

President Díaz-Canel warned last week, "If it were to materialize [U.S. invasion], it would trigger a bloodbath with incalculable consequences, plus the destructive impact on regional peace and stability."

Those "incalculable consequences" Díaz-Canel referenced were not defined. But recent warnings point to a broader threat spectrum, ranging from potential drone threats against the U.S. homeland to the risk that radicalized U.S.-based NGO networks tied to the Cuban Institute of Friendship with the Peoples, or ICAP, could be activated to sow chaos on U.S. streets. That may help explain why Rubio moved to sanction the entity. 

Secretary Rubio,

Two of the organizations listed above are direct partners of the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA), which has 100,000 members nationwide and 250 elected officials in office.

For these very same reasons, they should be investigated. https://t.co/6daEjUtcYw

— 🇺🇸 Jason Curtis Anderson (@JCAndersonNYC) June 4, 2026

Polymarket odds for a Cuban invasion by the end of the year stand at 40%.

//-->

Tick tock. Tick tock. 

US strike on Cuba by December 31?
Yes 39% · No 61%
View full market & trade on Polymarket

 

 

Tyler Durden Mon, 06/08/2026 - 23:00

Federal prosecutors have alleged that an Orange County technology executive, Jamshid Ghomi, 63, spent years supplying US equipment to Iran’s nuclear program and to entities linked to the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC). Meanwhile, he enjoyed a comfortable life in Newport Coast, one of Orange County’s most exclusive enclaves. The case exposes a blind spot...

Knick guard Jose Alvarado went head-first into the first row and former New York City Mayor Mike Bloom berg trying to retrieve a loose ball during Tuesday night's Game 3 of the NBA Finals.

Bellinger’s tiebreaking one-out single in the 10th inning helped the Yankees beat the Guardians in a nearly four-hour Monday night marathon.

With how much tickets were, why not walk on the court? Barstool Sports founder Dave Portnoy has called out Spike Lee for a "temper tantrum" during Game 3 of the NBA Finals.

Given that Freese played all 90 minutes in Saturday’s 2-1 loss to Germany, with a lineup that looked like a preview of Pochettino’s starting 11 at the World Cup, it would be a surprise if he weren’t the pick.

The pop star and the former Canadian Prime Minister first sparked romance rumors last July.

The pop star and the former Canadian Prime Minister first sparked romance rumors last July.

You can't bet on your own games if you have none.

Tiny X-Ray Telescope Could Unlock The Moon's Hidden Chemistry

Authored by Tokyo Metropolitan University via ScienceDaily,

Researchers at Tokyo Metropolitan University have used simulations to show that a small, newly developed X-ray telescope could help create a chemical map of the entire lunar surface. Such a map would be a major step toward understanding how the Moon formed, changed, and evolved over time.

A new compact X-ray telescope could help scientists produce the first-ever complete map of the Moon’s chemical makeup. Credit: Shutterstock

Their detailed modeling, which included both the telescope detector and a realistic Moon orbiting satellite mission, suggests that one telescope could map five important elements in about two years. A larger five by five array of detectors could produce sharper maps and complete the work more quickly.

Mapping The Moon's Chemistry

The Moon's geological history is still not fully understood. One major reason is that scientists do not yet have a complete geochemical map of the lunar surface. Because researchers cannot simply collect samples from every part of the Moon, they must rely on remote sensing methods.

One of these methods is X-ray fluorescence imaging. In this approach, detectors are pointed at the Moon to capture X-rays emitted by specific elements after they are struck by solar radiation. Those signals can help reveal which elements are present across different regions of the surface.

Why Complete Lunar Maps Are Difficult

Earlier observations from the Apollo and Chandrayaan missions produced useful partial maps, but a full global map is still missing. Creating one is technically difficult for several reasons. Missions have limited time to gather enough sunlight driven X-ray signals, and detectors can degrade during long periods in space.

The problem is especially difficult near the Moon's poles. In these regions, solar X-rays are weaker, which makes it harder to collect the signals needed to identify surface elements.

A Compact X-Ray Telescope For Lunar Orbit

To address these obstacles, a team led by Airi Toida and Prof. Yuichiro Ezoe of Tokyo Metropolitan University has proposed using a compact X-ray telescope on a satellite orbiting the Moon. The telescope would allow wide area observations of the lunar surface during strong solar flares, when the Sun provides more intense X-ray illumination.

Traditional X-ray telescopes are often too large and heavy for this type of mission. By contrast, the team's compact telescope was originally designed for studying Earth's magnetosphere and weighs less than ten kilograms. Its small size could make it practical for long term lunar satellite observations.

The detector has also been tested in radiation conditions far harsher than those expected in lunar orbit. That durability could support robust, wide area, high resolution imaging over an extended mission.

Simulations Show A Path To A Full Moon Map

The researchers then added the telescope's specifications into a numerical simulation to test whether a satellite mission could successfully map the Moon. Assuming 300 solar flares per year and a single telescope aboard a Moon orbiting satellite, the simulation showed that the whole lunar surface could be mapped for five elements - oxygen, iron, magnesium, aluminum, silicon - in two years, using a grid size of 70 x 70 kilometers.

Because the telescope is so compact, the team also examined a satellite carrying a five by five array of telescopes. According to the simulations, this 25 telescope system could reduce the mission time to one year. With two years of operation, it could also map sodium, while improving the grid size to 30 x 30 kilometers.

A New Window Into Lunar Geology

If either mission concept becomes reality, it would produce the first complete map of elemental abundance across the entire Moon. That achievement would give scientists a powerful new tool for studying lunar geology and reconstructing the Moon's long and complex history.

This work was supported by JSPS KAKENHI Grant Number 21H04972.

Journal Reference: Airi Toida, Daiki Ishi, Yuichiro Ezoe, Masaki Numazawa, Kumi Ishikawa. "Numerical simulation of light-element geochemistry of the lunar surface using a compact and lightweight XRF imaging spectrometer." Earth, Planets and Space, 2026; 78 (1). DOI: 10.1186/s40623-025-02326-2

Tyler Durden Mon, 06/08/2026 - 22:35

The most promising indication yet that the running back could be ready to go for Giants training camp this summer was seen during Monday’s first day of the mandatory minicamp. 

Knicks fans have had enough of Victor Wembanyama, the new Madison Square Garden villain.

Maybe when DJ Khaled said "I'm on One," he meant his cellphone.

The lefty last pitched May 31, when he logged four innings against the Marlins and allowed one earned run.

4 In 10 American Adults Report Having 'Mental Health' Problems

Over the past few years, a lot of progress has been made in accepting and understanding mental health problems.

Having long been seen as a sign of weakness, mental health issues in their many varieties and severities have become much less of a taboo.

As Statista's Valentine Fourreau notes, the pandemic, which left many people feel isolated, powerless or overwhelmed, accelerated that trend, as it not only caused a spike in symptoms of anxiety or depression, but also led more people to open up about their problems.

In a Statista survey from 2025-2026, the prevalence of self-reported mental health problems varies greatly across countries, suggesting that people in some countries, e.g. China or Japan, may be more hesitant to open up about mental health or simply less likely to identify certain problems as mental health issues.

You will find more infographics at Statista

As Statista's chart shows, more than 4 in 10 U.S. adults reported that they experienced symptoms of mental health problems, such as stress, anxiety or depression in the 12 months preceding the survey, making an open discourse about mental health issues all the more important.

With that in mind, we give the last word to AOC, who exclaimed over the weekend that "we are not the crazy ones. We are sane!"...

AOC : "We are not the crazy ones. We are sane!"

If you have to tell people that you're sane in public, you probably...aren't.

Also, have you seen the Democrat platform policies wishlist?

Pretty crazy. pic.twitter.com/oyIQ9Jk3ls

— Justin Theory (@realJustATheory) February 19, 2026

Arguably, if you have to tell people that you're sane in public, you probably...aren't.

Tyler Durden Mon, 06/08/2026 - 22:10

Thunder general manager Sam Presti defended center Chet Holmgren after his struggles against the Spurs in the Western Conference finals.