Thus, we have a neat scientific explanation of why moderately regulated economies are the most creative and thus the wealthiest. We can't rely on people to be angels, but too much enforcement risks inhibiting people's natural mechanisms, concludes Zak, who spoke last week at a Cambridge University conference on whether moral values are essential in business. And any regulations have to reflect our underlying, innate sense of values, otherwise they won't be followed. His conclusion might have found favour with Adam Smith, whose view that people act in their own self-interest and that they show sympathy with others, are sometimes thought contradictory.
- Anjana Anhuja, "Adam Smith Was Right", "The Times"