NEWS

Reed on John Stossel Show, Featured in Syndicated Column

FEBRUARY 09, 2011 by TSVETELIN M. TSONEVSKI

FEE President Lawrence W. Reed is featured in John Stossel’s syndicated column published today. The column, “Spontaneous Order,” is carried by a couple of hundred newspapers and posted on many websites. It is drawn from the transcript of Reed’s appearance on Stossel’s Fox Business show, which was broadcasted on Feb. 10. Here’s an excerpt:

Lawrence Reed, of the Foundation for Economic Education, explains [spontaneous order] this way:

“Spontaneous order is what happens when you leave people alone — when entrepreneurs … see the desires of people … and then provide for them.

“They respond to market signals, to prices. Prices tell them what’s needed and how urgently and where. And it’s infinitely better and more productive than relying on a handful of elites in some distant bureaucracy.”

The column continues with a discussion of FEE founder Leonard E. Read’s “I, Pencil.”

Another way to understand spontaneous order is to think about the simple pencil. Leonard Read, who established the Foundation for Economic Education, wrote an essay titled, “I, Pencil,” which began, “[N]o single person on the face of this earth knows how to make [a pencil].

Read the column here.

To watch the video segment with Mr. Reed on Stossel’s Show click here.