EH.Net Mailing List Archive: HES

Peter raises a good point.  And one might add that, as Smith makes   
clear in Book V, that "vast spontaneous order" is built on a   
foundation of well-articulated and enforced (by government) property   
rights and contract.  Indeed, when Smith wrote, English common law   
had by far the most sophisticated legal framework that had to that   
date ever been articulated to frame market activity.  This included   
patent and copyright, property rights in good will and trademark, the   
ability to enforce "non-compete" clauses in sales contracts, etc.  A   
contemporary of Smith, the great Chief Justice Mansfield (King's   
Bench) was acutely aware of the importance of law to sustaining a   
dynamic economic system.  
  
Fred Carstensen