Introduction

Abstract

This book is a philosophical reflection (using mainly Hegel, in addition to Adam Smith, Kant, Marx and Catholic Social Thought)¹ about the sociopolitical dimension of economics. In it I both agree and disagree with the slogan that “the least government is the best government.” I agree with the slogan, in particular as it applies to the economic domain. Adam Smith taught us that rational and self-interested individuals, left by themselves, create a more efficient and reliable economic system than one in which the government has a heavy role as was the case in his time with the mercantile system (Smith, 14, 651). Ludwig von Mises demonstrated the same idea for the communist command economy (Hayek 1935, 87–130). I disagree with the above mentioned slogan if it is interpreted as suggesting that we can best forget about the role of the government for a good functioning economy. Instead, I will argue that the government has an important function in creating the proper regulations and the wise institutional arrangements which will allow the economy to flourish in a more efficient, fair and humane way.