Casting kit for the invisible imprint of The invisible hand of the market
Introduction
Although Adam Smith – the founder of classical economic theory – uses the concept of the invisible hand only once in the work «The Wealth of Nations», this is something many associate him with. The idea of the invisible hand is that the social economy in an ingenious way – through the price mechanism – transforms chaos, competition and people’s selfishness into interaction and order. The goods in the economy are distributed and people get their needs met, while overall prosperity increases. Great stuff, in other words. But: the neoliberals believed – and still believe – that the invisible hand is not strong enough, and that it therefore needs the help of certain governmental bodies, i.e. the military, the police and the courts. The rest of the public sector only creates unnecessary expenses and obstacles, and can therefore be abolished.
Do the invisible hand of the market also have the ability to make things invisible, one might ask. If the invisible hand of the market is hostile to the taxation of the rich – as many indications show – it has probably paved the way for tax evasion and tax avoidance through the purchase and storage of art on a large scale. This practice has led to a situation where a large part of the world’s art history, and thus our common cultural heritage, has ended up in so-called freeports – tax-free warehouses in, among other places. Geneva – and is therefore no longer accessible to most people.
Content
30 ml plaster, mounting hook
Instructions
The invisible hand of the market is hard to get hold of, but is nevertheless an effective phenomenon which deserves to be captured for closer analysis, for which we recommend that this casting set be used.
Pour the plaster into a small box (e.g. an old can), stir in 60 ml of water, pour the mixture into the aluminum box (the mold) and let the plaster dry. You have now created the invisible imprint of The invisible hand of the market. If necessary, close it by putting on the window lid, attach the mounting hook to the back of the box and hang it on the wall, or place the box on a pedestal.
