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Adam Smith rule

The Adam Smith rule, named after Adam Smith, is a simplification of political behavior derived from a study of Oakland, California which was conducted by Frank Levy[?], Arnold Meltsner[?], and Aaron Wildavsky[?] and briefly mentioned in Managing Urban America.

This rule states, "When a customer makes a request, take care of him in a professional manner; otherwise, leave him alone."

An applied example of this would be a city which professionally maintains certain streets, and ignores maintenance on others.