Tuesday
Following a tongue-lashing from an irate cabbie, I don’t intend to pass-off any fake banknotes for a while. Instead, I’ll be dealing exclusively in the new £20 bill, which features the 18th-Century economist, Adam Smith.
Smith pioneered the principle of ‘the invisible hand’. Contrary to conventional wisdom, this has nothing to do with the social benefits of self-interest. No, the invisible hand is actually the hand that repeatedly empties your wallet without your knowledge.
It’s also the hand that strokes your chin as you ask the question: ‘How the hell have I spent £70 on three pints and a taco?’
March 14, 2007 at 4:08 pm
tra la la! i’ve just got back from london …. but you know all about that!
x
March 14, 2007 at 4:18 pm
Ha! You’re right, heard you on the radio, didn’t I? XFM was it …
March 14, 2007 at 6:34 pm
indeed it was – we’re hoping to get on kerrrrrrrang next!
March 14, 2007 at 7:19 pm
Right down your street. Steer clear of middle England, I say
March 14, 2007 at 8:16 pm
URGH. It’s not so much invisible hand in my life as whole path labs full of invisible hands. Several thousand of them. I remember money…
March 14, 2007 at 8:39 pm
Thanks. Now I know the name for it, which just emptied 45 Euros from my wallet and left me standing alone with four small bags of potting soil and some cheap Easter eggs.
March 14, 2007 at 10:54 pm
H: But at least you can console yourself with the not so invisible hands, keeping you warm while canvassing, no?
TTF: There’ll be toys – or at the very least more chocolate, inside the Easter eggs – so your journey won’t have been completely wasted. I’d like to have been on that shopping trip.
March 15, 2007 at 4:29 am
i have a case of the invisible hand during the holidays. i know i start out with X amount, but always end up with more?
March 15, 2007 at 8:50 am
is it also the selfsame invisible hand that slaps you about (usually metaphorically) when you go into the red, and charges your £15 for writing a letter to tell you so?