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Timothy Sandefur
… for AdamSmithWorks March 16, 2020 It’s unlikely that Burke imagined, when sneering at “economists” in his Reflections, that his defense of feudal hierarchy would later serve as the foundation for a bloody rebellion aimed at perpetuating chattel slavery.
Jack Russell Weinstein
May 15, 2019 … people who argue both that slavery was a positive institution for the black slaves and that the Africans didn’t really suffer. These people however, constitute the vast minority and are generally regarded as crackpots. Adam Smith would not sympathize.
Extra: Cara Rogers Stevens on Thomas Jefferson and Slavery
Winston Tingle
What legacy does Thomas Jefferson deserve? NEW ASW author Winston Tingle takes you into the question in this Great Antidote Extra.
Matthew Lowenstein
Matthew Lowenstein for AdamSmithWorks December 2, 2019 ...is he right on the economics? That is, are there instances when slave labor could, at least conceptually, more effectively mobilize and accumulate capital than free labor? … first blush, to be wildly inaccurate. As societies grow in productivity taboos against slavery tend to become ever-more robust. What did Smith get wrong? How might we steelman his model of slavery to observe what, if any, kernel of truth it might contain?
Cara Rogers Stevens on Thomas Jefferson and Slavery
Juliette Sellgren and Cara Rogers Stevens
Thomas Jefferson was a complicated figure. Essential to the start of our country and the university I attend, he is impossible to ignore. Yet, he held slaves, and at the same time said “all men are created equal.” What’s up with that?!?
Extras: Timothy Sandefur on Frederick Douglass
Christy Lynn Horpedahl
October 16, 2022 Frederick Douglass both loved and hated America, but his legacy deserves to live large in American history. Guest Timothy Sandefur and host Juliette Sellgren talk about Douglass’ life, ideas, and long-lasting impact.
Timothy Sandefur
April 13, 2022 … the Confederacy’s intellectuals owed a profound debt to this enemy of economic thought. Related Links Kwok Ping Tsang, Adam Smith's Political Economy: From Poison to Science Jack Weinstein, Adam Smith on Slavery Charles Korsmo, Adam Smith's Jurisprudence
Raillery of Adam Smith: Praise-by-Blame in a 1764 Pamphlet on Slavery
Daniel B. Klein
January 19, 2022
Is it Smith? Facts and Myths about the Life of Adam Smith
Mark C. Schug
Using a trivia game, students explore common myths and less well-known facts about Adam Smith. Background information, questions for discussion, and resources for further exploration are included.
Sarah Skwire and Janet Bufton
Of the Discouragement of Agriculture in the Ancient State of Europe after the Fall of the Roman Empire
Of the Discouragement of Agriculture in the Ancient State of Europe after the Fall of the Roman Empire
Of Colonies
Slavery in Adam Smith's Wealth of Nations (September 2021)
September 2021 with Janet Bufton
Reading the Wealth of Nations: MORE Book 4
Matt Bufton
November 28, 2021 [Smith] points out that free men have an incentive to devise better ways of doing their work, while a slave has much less incentive. In fact, Smith goes so far as to say that a slave who proposed a labour-saving device would be whipped … … group! Related Links Read Bufton's posts on Book I, Book II, and Book III, and Book IV Part 1 Jack Weinstein, Adam Smith on Slavery An Animal That Trades video series, Part 2: The Free Market David Henderson, Adam Smith's Economic Case Against Imperialism
Of Colonies