Bernard de Mandeville, 1670 - 1733. First "neo liberal" author and the man that coined the ethicless economy. I was off by 100 years tho 😁

Not to say everything was perfect and nice before, but he's one of the father of modern capitalism and the first to theorise businesses didn't have to be ethic.

For him, the virtue of the society would be a guard against the sin of the economy. Like that, businesses could focus on making as much money as possible.

Of course, it was stupid. Greed and cupidity were not magically contained...