Nobody has to intend the result for an economy to produce it

One useful economic habit is separating what people intend from what their combined actions produce. Stanford’s philosophy of economics entry uses Hume’s account of traders spending additional imported gold: their aim isn’t to raise the general price level, but their spending can contribute to that outcome.

The interesting move is from individual purposes to patterns nobody explicitly planned. It gives economics something to investigate beyond simply asking each person what they meant to do.