“Important people are commemorated on their birthdays. But the birthdays of some, such as Adam Smith, history’s most famous economist, are unknown. However, we do know he was baptized on June 5, 1723, making it an appropriate time to remember him. Smith is most remembered for articulating how the ‘invisible hand’ of market interactions can coordinate a society based upon liberty — i.e., private property and voluntary exchange — more effectively than the coercive power of the state. Unfortunately, Smith’s crucial insights are overlooked by politicians who talk of liberty, but legislate and regulate away its centerpiece — voluntary arrangements.” (06/05/09)