"Free-market economics, a legacy of the classical school, is thought of as an old conservative doctrine. But it was in fact one of the most revolutionary concepts to emerge in the history of ideas. Moreover, "the thinking of the classical economist was not only a radical break from landmark intellectual figures like Plato and Machiavelli but also from mainstream thinking to this day." The notion of a self-equilibrating system -- the market economy -- meant a reduced role for intellectuals and politicians." And even today many still haven't accepted that their superior wisdom might be superfluous, if not damaging."
-interview with Thomas Sowell