An invisible hand

Kinesthesis can make an invisible hand visible.

Self-generated body movements have reliable visual consequences. This predictive association between vision and action likely underlies modulatory effects of action on visual processing. However, it is unknown whether actions can have generative effects on visual perception. We asked whether, in total darkness, self-generated body movements are sufficient to evoke normally concomitant visual pe...

Mapping the Invisible Hand

After amputation, individuals often have vivid experiences of their absent limb (i.e., a phantom limb). Therefore, one's conscious image of one's body cannot depend on peripheral input only (Ramachandran & Hirstein, 1998). However, the origin of phantom sensations is hotly debated. Reports of vivid phantoms in the case of congenital absence of the limb show that memory of former body state is n...

The Invisible Hand

The marginalist revolution transformed the principles of price determination in competitive markets. Nevertheless, the systematization that accompanied neo-classical theory, especially Walras’ general equilibrium formulation, confirmed Classical economists’ belief, most powerfully articulated by Smith, that impediments to free trade should be removed. So, while the transition from the Classical...

A helping hand for the invisible hand.

Equilibrium Versus the Invisible Hand

Twentieth century equilibrium modeling depicts an end state toward which an economy tends, whereas the invisible hand, as Adam Smith depicted it, suggests an economy continually progressing as an increased division of labor is produced by growing markets. Thus, there is an inherent tension between the concepts of an equilibrium outcome versus the invisible hand process. The paper discusses diff...