The invisible hand and central planning

I have not read Adam Smith and it may be that his metaphor has been extended beyond the original intention; yet the invisible hand is frequently used in the context of free trade, with the suggestion that government leave alone.

By preferring the support of domestic to that of foreign industry, he intends only his own security; and by 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. Nor is it always the worse for the society that it was not part of it. 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.

Freedom of trade in general leads to greater economic prosperity than that of a centralised economy: the invisible hand guides better than the economic planner.

I agree with this is general. It seems, however, that the metaphor implies that a less informative process is more productive than a more informative one; that a planner is less productive than no planner.

The thing is that there is planning, it is just that it is extended to all the buyers and sellers in a marketplace. All those minds making decisions about their economic options contain a vast wealth of information; more information than any group of planners could have. It is not an invisible hand that guides, it is an invisible collective knowledge that decides.

Thoughts on time management

Douglas Wilson offers some advice on time management. I have often spoken of working smart, not (necessarily) hard. And that productivity is of more concern than hours worked. Although I appreciate Wilson's concept of fruitfulness over productivity which adds the dimension of usefulness to productivity, ie. there is no point in being extremely time efficient producing what is useless or detrimental.

I am also aware of the concept of diminishing returns. 1 hour of work may do a 50% job, but 2 hours may only add a further 25%. Those with perfectionist tendencies need to be aware that while some things require greater than 99% completion (eg. air traffic control), many do not (eg. housework) and can easily become time wasters. Wilson addresses this in item #3

Seven Thoughts on Time Management

1. The point is fruitfulness, not efficiency. You should want to be fruitful like a tree, not efficient like a machine.
   
   But this fruitfulness is a function of God's blessing, and it is surrendered work that is blessed work. Seek that blessing, and seek it through concrete surrender. Such surrenders are not abstract. Put your Isaacs on the altar. Every interruption is a chance to surrender your work to the only one who can bless your work, particularly when the interruptions come from your kid wanting to play catch.
   
   We can see the principle with the sabbath and the tithe. Less blessed is more than more unblessed. 90% blessed goes farther than 100% unblessed. 6 days blessed are far more fruitful than 7 days unblessed.
   
   
2. Build a fence around your life, and keep that fence tended. You should have a life outside your work, and your family should be enjoying that life together with you. Go to work at a reasonable, predictable time, and come home at a reasonable, predictable time. Keep your work on a regular schedule, not an absolute schedule. If the barn catches fire, allow that to interrupt your schedule. But if the barn catches fire three times a week, then perhaps some preventative thinking is in order. When you are driven by the tyranny of the urgent, most of the urgencies aren't. Let the fence hold.
   
   
3. Perfectionism paralyzes. Chesterton once wonderfully observed that anything worth doing is worth doing badly. The sign of a fruitful worker is that he understands the critical difference between "that won't cut it" and "that is just fine."
   
   
4. Fill in the corners. I typed the outline for this with my thumbs while sitting in a comfy chair at the mall while my wife was being a merchant ship that brings goods from afar. This was far more productive than staring vacantly at a neon Tito Macaroni's sign would have been. If you have a commute, use the time to listen to books instead of inane DJ chatter. If the books get too serious, or if you do, go back to the DJs.
   
   Do not despise how much can be packed into small corners. I live in a small town, and so my commute is four minutes, more or less. There have been times when I have arrived at the office with the same song playing as when I pulled out of the garage. And yet I listened to David McCullough's John Adams like that. It was a great steak, and cutting it into little tiny pieces did not diminish the flavor at all.
   
   
5. Plod. Keep at it. Slow and steady wins the race. Truisms are true. Work adds up, provided you are doing it.
   
   
6. Take in more than you give out. If you give out more than you take in, you will . . . give out. Your lake should have snowmelt streams running into it. Every vocation requires constant learning, constant development.
   
   
7. Use and reuse. State and restate. Learn and relearn. Develop what you know. Cultivate what you have. Your garden plot is the same as it always was, so plow deeper. Envying the garden that others have cultivated plows nothing, and brings forth a harvest of nothing.
   
   Strive for deep conviction more than superficial originality, and deep originality will come. Your tomatoes will take the ribbon at the fair, provided you learned how to grow them in your own dirt.