When Economists Were Still Economists

An economist used to be a person who was able to explain why the economy works well without interference by the state, and, indeed, better than if such meddling were to be effected. Nowadays, an economist is a person who affirms that the economy can only work properly thanks to interventions by the state.

The economist has become a proponent of economic policy, the former being versed in knowledge about the invisible hand, the latter considering himself competent to steer the visible hand.

Here's a great piece of genuine economics from a bygone age when economists were still interested in learning something about the intricacies of the real economy.

To assume, as protectionists do, that economy must necessarily result from bringing producer and consumer together in point of space, is to assume that things can be produced as well in one place as in another, and that difficulties in exchange are to be measured solely by distance. The truth is, that commodities can often be produced in one place with so much greater facility than in another that it involves a less expenditure of labor to bring them long distances than to produce them on the spot, while two points a hundred miles apart may be commercially nearer each other than two points ten miles apart. To bring the producer to the consumer in point of distance, is, if it increases the cost of production, not economy but waste.

The source.

Here is also an interesting interview with Pierre Desrochers on locavorism.