Speaking of Smith Archives

The Hopeful Vision of Saint Augustine and Adam Smith

June 22, 2020

Here I use Tertullian’s formula to ask a different question, “What has Glasgow to do with Hippo?”

"Saving Adam Smith" Saves My Economics Class

June 19, 2020

Saving Adam Smith hit the bullseye for my most recent search for a book that not only covers a number of my state’s standards, but demystifies the broader understanding of Adam Smith’s economics.

Joseph Banks

June 15, 2020

"...Banks, perhaps instinctively, knew more about economic change than his educational and scientific background let on."

Exploiting the Good Earth

June 8, 2020

The word exploit has now come to be synonymous with theft, which is a pity because it allows so much of what works in the world to be lumped in with what doesn’t.

Adam Smith and Jane Austen

June 5, 2020

The similarities in Smith’s descriptions of moral weakness and Austen’s descriptions of people were undeniable. It was as if I could assign a different character in the book to each of Smith’s passages on moral philosophy.

Empathy, Exchange, and the Dangers of Demonization

June 1, 2020

Can you talk me out of my despondency today?

Modern Society Allows Appreciation of Frontline Workers

May 29, 2020

"...modernity, whatever its flaws, can’t take the blame for this shortcoming. If anything, it positions us to remedy it."

Updating Adam Smith

May 25, 2020

Ibn Khaldoun: Smithian Before Smith

May 22, 2020

The East Asian economic miracle: An iron hand, or an invisible one?

May 18, 2020

A great leader isn’t necessary for great results, and an invisible hand beats an iron one any day.

Being Me Being You

May 15, 2020

"...we are all creatures who are constantly trying to feel as other human beings do."

Pestilential Politics

May 11, 2020

Despite fervent claims that we are currently undergoing an “unprecedented” calamity, however, we’ve been here before. While the Covid-19 crisis is stunning in modern terms, it is a mere flesh wound in the annals of political turmoil.