Illustration by John Sadler www.johnsadlerillustration.com 

• THAT Adam Smith has a lot to answer for.

The 18th-century economist described a sort of magical “invisible hand” that somehow allowed us all to act in our own self-interest without that selfishness creating misery among our fellow human beings.

And just that simple metaphor in the Age of Enlightenment freed up every self-obsessed shyster to behave as badly as they needed to squeeze every last penny they could out of their fellow human beings.

It seems there is no shortage of those invisible hands, these days. They’re busy in our betting shops, after all. Putting a little “flutter” on here and there.

July 4 for election day, what do you reckon? Look it’s just a bit of fun. After all the people who own those betting shops know all about the invisible hands.

Billions of pounds of wages staked on dead cert losers, and yet no harm’s done. Magic! Where’s the harm?

Sadly that’s not quite so invisible. It’s all around us. But just close your eyes and you can’t see it.

C MARTIN, WC1