The invisible hand is a term used by Adam Smith to describe the unintended social benefits of individual self - interested actions. The phrase was employed by Smith with respect to income distribution (1759) and production (1776). The exact phrase is used just three times in Smith 's writings, but has come to capture his notion that individuals ' efforts to pursue their own interest may frequently benefit society more than if their actions were directly intending to benefit society. Smith may have come up with the two meanings of the phrase from Richard Cantillon who developed both economic applications in his model of the isolated estate.
the term invisible hand is likely to be found in reference to
notion that individuals ' efforts to pursue their own interest may frequently benefit society more than if their actions were directly intending to benefit society