hand".  This disjoint between what is really valuable about the science of economics conceived of as a public science, and what modern economists know and do, is one of the sources for the intellectual edge one can sense when studying the works of James Buchanan.  Too few economists understand basic economics as Buchanan pointed out in such classic works as Public Principles of Public Debt (1962), Cost and Choice (1969) and in the essays that comprised What Should Economists Do? (1979). Russ Roberts is one economist who understands basic economics and strives to rid our professional and public discourse of confusion over these basic issues.  Recently he gave a lecture on "The Deepest Thing We Know. " Comments You can follow this conversation by subscribing to the comment feed for this post. The problem for most people is that Smith's invisible hand is a paradox: competition (chaos) in a free market reduces greed better than government measures intended to do it. The great psychiatrist Viktor Frankel discovered the principle of paradoxical intention in human behavior that he used to treat problems like stuttering, sleeplessness and phobias. For stutterers he would tell them to try to stutter next time they were talking in front of a group of people. For people who couldn't sleep, he advised them to try to stay awake as long as possible. He encouraged people with fear of heights to climb tall things. He also applied it to sports: teams who focused on winning usually lose because