This opinion piece argues that much of the West’s energy transition can no longer count on politics. And, crucially, it no longer has to.

Adam Smith, hailed as the father of modern economics, is often inseparable from the idea of the “invisible hand”. The invisible hand is widely understood as a metaphor illustrating how individual actions may unintentionally benefit society as a whole. However, to fully grasp this concept, we must take a step back from modern interpretations and revisit the contexts in which Adam Smith used the term.