Pittsfield Rotary to UNH Speaker:
Who Shall Assist the Poor? An Inquiry into the
Role of Markets, Private Charity and Government
December 10, 2008 at 7:00 p.m.
This event will take place at the Pittsfield
Community Center in Pittsfield, NH and will
feature Thomas Birch of the University of New
Hampshire.
Professor Birch’s teaching and research has
spanned fields such as public finance, history
of economic thought and monetary economics. His
publications include topics in government
spending and taxation as well as articles on
major economic thinkers. Professor Birch teaches
in both the business and humanities programs at
UNH Manchester.
Birch uses the writings of Adam Smith (The
Wealth of Nations and The Theory of Moral
Sentiments) to frame some of the economic,
psychological and ethical issues regarding how
best to assist the poor. First, the competitive
free market perspective that economic growth
provides a “rising tide that lifts all boats” is
considered and related to contemporary China.
This “Invisible Hand” perspective is juxtaposed
against a less well known problem that Adam
Smith recognized, namely the tendency of the
poor to conceal their poverty (for fear of
social disapprobation) and the rich to segregate
themselves from the poor. This creates what I
call an “Invisible Poor” problem and has
implications for whether or not private charity
is sufficient for assisting the poor. Finally,
the role of government in providing assistance
to the poor is considered, an option that Smith
did not rule out although he was critical of the
government policies in existence during his time
yet relevant to the current U.S. welfare policy
debate. Using Smith’s own economic and ethical
thought and invoking the work of modern
economists (e.g., the concept of “public goods”)
a case is made for the government to assist the
poor although the precise type of assistance and
the complementary role of private charity and
markets is a fertile topic for debate.
This program was made possible by the University
of New Hampshire Speakers Bureau which connects
faculty and staff speakers with non-profit
organizations to share the research and
knowledge of the university with the people and
communities of New Hampshire. For more
information on obtaining a speaker for your
organization, contact the UNH Speakers Bureau at
(603) 862-4401 or on the web at
www.unh.edu/speakersbureau.
For more information on this event, contact the
Pittsfield Rotary at 603-435-7447 or
[email protected].