ABSTRACT
"The statesman, who should attempt to direct private people in what manner they ought to employ their capitals," Adam Smith wrote, "would not only load himself with a most unnecessary attention, but assume an authority which could safely be trusted to no council and senate whatever, and which would nowhere be so dangerous as in the hands of a man who had folly and presumption enough to fancy himself fit to exercise it." 1 Not the state, but the free play of market forces should determine the kinds of goods to be produced, the factors of production to be employed, and the division of distributive shares. Individual economic activity should be coordinated through an autonomous and impartial planning mechanism—one that is external to human control, manipulation, or perversion. Competition should serve the dual function of harnessing the individual to social ends, while depriving him of power so great that, if abused, it would result in harm to his fellows.
