'The Parable of the Bees,' 300 Years Later

Could everything bad be good for us? The paradox that sin helps fulfill God’s plan goes back millennia in Western religion.  However, the modern secular form, and much of social thought, emerged 300 years ago with the 1714 publication of a verse and commentary by Bernard Mandeville, a Dutch physician practicing in London. The Fable of the Bees is one of the few works cited approvingly by economic interventionists and libertarians alike.