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de Tocqueville on Self Interest via Stiglitz…

April 14, 2011 by admin

de Tocqueville once described what he saw as a chief part of the peculiar genius of American society—something he called “self-interest properly understood.” The last two words were the key. Everyone possesses self-interest in a narrow sense: I want what’s good for me right now! Self-interest “properly understood” is different. It means appreciating that paying attention to everyone else’s self-interest—in other words, the common welfare—is in fact a precondition for one’s own ultimate well-being.

This is an excerpt taken from an article published by Vanity Fair and written by Nobel Prize Winning Economist Joe Stiglitz.

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