So far Smith has argued that individuals act in their self-interest and that there is a preference for home-trade over foreign or carrying trade. Now, he adds that the capital employed in the home-trade necessarily boost the national industry, and increases employment and revenues for the inhabitants of the country to a larger degree than if it were employed outside; this also implies that there would be more resources for the provision of defense, [3] which serves everyone and is, as Smith puts it, "the first duty of the sovereign". [18] So not only is in the best interest of the individual to employ their capital in home-trade over the alternatives, but it is also the option most beneficial for society . It is in this way that the interest of the individual and his society align: Far from extolling the virtues of the "invisible hand" the overall tone of this passage is one that questions the distribution of wealth and laments the fact that the poor receive the "necessities of life" after the rich have gratified "their own vain and insatiable desires". Although elsewhere in The Theory of Moral Sentiments, Smith has described the desire of men to be respected by the members of the community in which they live, and the desire of men to feel that they are honorable beings.

Hidden Hands tells the stories of the artisans, artists, scribes and readers, patrons and collectors who made and kept the beautiful, fragile objects that have survived the ravages of fire, water and deliberate destruction to form a picture of both English culture and the wider European culture of which it is part. Hidden Hand" redirects here. For the 2020 book, see Hidden Hand (book). The Emperor Napoleon in His Study at the Tuileries (1812), exhibiting the hand-in-waistcoat gesture

Historically, women’s paid work has often been belittled and forgotten. The exhibition hunted down the hidden work of women in the Chilterns’ villages that formed a crucial part of the local economy during the 19th and 20th centuries. Luxury goods made by these highly skilled workers contrast with the harsh reality of working long and poorly paid hours from their homes.

This, he argues, is because the further the capital goes, the greater risk and transaction costs are. [17] He does not exclude the possibility of special situations where capital is sent to "more distant employments". [18] Smith's theoretical U-turn from a micro-economical to a macro-economical view is not reflected in The Wealth of Nations. Large parts of this book are retaken from Smith's lectures before his visit to France. So one must distinguish in The Wealth of Nations a micro-economical and a macro-economical Adam Smith. Whether Smith's quotation of an invisible hand in the middle of his work is a micro-economical statement or a macro-economical statement condemning monopolies and government interferences as in the case of tariffs and patents is debatable.Manuscripts teem with life. They are not only the stuff of history and literature, but they offer some of the only tangible evidence we have of entire lives, long receded. Every individual is continually exerting himself to find out the most advantageous employment for whatever capital he can command. It is his own advantage, indeed, and not that of the society, which he has in view. But the study of his own advantage naturally, or rather necessarily leads him to prefer that employment which is most advantageous to the society. [15]