, as well as by his friend david hume, his mentor francis hutcheson, and other participants in the enlightenment. early political economists had made impressive contributions, many of them anticipating parts of smith's global view. but smith reached beyond his predecessors and subjected market processes to a far more formidable intellectual analysis. one hears a good deal of franz joseph haydn in the string quartets and symphonies of wolfgang amadeus mozart ; yet to my ear, at least, mozart rose to a plateau beyond anything haydn and his contemporaries were able to reach. so, too, in his sphere, did smith. he concluded that, to enhance the wealth of a nation, every man, consistent with the law, should be " free to pursue his own interest his own way, and to bring both his industry and capital into competition with those of... other... men. " 2 " it is not from the benevolence of the butcher, the brewer, or the baker, that we expect our dinner, but from their regard to their own interest. " 3 the individual is driven by private gain but is " led by an invisible hand " to promote the public good, " which was no part of his intention. " 4 this last insight is all the more extraordinary in that, for much of human history, acting in one's self - interest - indeed, seeking to accumulate wealth - had been perceived as unseemly and was, in some instances, illegal. in the opening paragraphs of the wealth of nations, smith recognized the crucial role played by the expansion of labor productivity in improving welfare when he cited " the skill, dexterity, and judgment with which labor is generally applied " as one of the essential determinants of a nation's standard of living. " whatever be the soil, climate, or extent of territory of any particular nation, the abundance or scantiness of its annual supply must in that particular situation, depend upon... the productive powers of labor. " 5 more than two centuries of economic thought have added little to those insights. smith, on remarkably little formal empirical evidence, drew broad inferences about the nature of commercial organization and institutions that led to a set of principles that would profoundly influence and alter a significant segment of the civilized world of that time. economies based on those principles first created levels of sustenance adequate to enable the population to grow and later - far later - to create material conditions of living that fostered an increase in

ewart s williams : from single market to single economy ( benefits and challenges ) address by mr ewart s williams, governor of the central bank of trinidad and tobago, at the second biennial international conference on business, banking & finance, port of spain, 2 may 2006. * * * in january this year when six countries signed an agreement to initiate the caribbean single market, it marked a milestone in a process that formally started in 1973 with the treaty of chaguaramas. the formal establishment of the caricom single market heralded, inter alia, the removal of restrictions on the free movement of goods, skills, services, and capital and the rights of establishment of enterprises anywhere in the region. the single economy, which as of now is tentatively scheduled to be in place by 2008, involves the adoption by member states of harmonized macro - economic policies, coordinated development of productive sectors, the building of a regional capital market and arrangements for a common currency. in essence, the treaty envisages the reconfiguration of the separate national economies into a truly single economy. over the last two decades or so, the world has witnessed increased economic and monetary integration efforts among developed nations. this fact has highlighted the case for greater economic cooperation among developing countries. moreover, the success of the euro, which has become the world ’ s second leading currency, has heightened interest in monetary union among developing countries. i should note that it is not only in the caribbean that the establishment of a common currency is under consideration. indeed, the economic community of west african states ( ecowas ), a grouping that includes nigeria and ghana, along with four smaller states, has put the establishment of a monetary union at the top of its agenda. in asia, interest in the possibility of an asian monetary union has resurfaced as part of the continuing dialogue on regional economic cooperation. in 2001, asian governments appointed a currency and exchange rate mechanism task force to examine the desirability and feasibility of regional exchange rate co - ordination. what i would like to do is to address three related questions : what additional benefits would monetary union bring to our ongoing integration efforts? what are the main challenges involved in the establishment of a single regional currency? can the european union serve as a template for monetary union in the caribbean? since the signing of the declaration giving force to the caribbean single market, there has been much comment throughout the region on the limited discussion that has taken place on the implications of the single market