Title page from The Fable of the Bees or Private Vices, Publick Benefits, 2 vols.

The Fable of the Bees or Private Vices, Publick Benefits, 2 vols.

Mandeville is a witty satirist who used a poem to make the profound economic point that “private vices” (or self-interest) lead to “publick benefits” (such as orderly social structures like law, language, and markets).

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