This week its 250 years since the publication of Adam Smith's magnum opus The Wealth of Nations.
Too often this book is read in isolation from the rest of his work, which leaves important normative aspects of his political economy ignored....
while interpretations of the WoN itself are too often based on selective quotations & partial understanding of his analysis of markets.
You'll see a lot of claims Smith is the celebrant of unfettered free markets;
read WoN & find he isn't!
@ChrisMayLA6 Right! His "invisible hand" was never intended as a blanket justification for unregulated capitalism or selfishness! It was a loose metaphor used to argue against protectionism, and is nowhere presented in his works as a general theory of markets.
Indeed, it was largely ignored for nearly 200 years until it was popularized - and, I would argue, deliberately misrepresented - by Chicago School economists and other free market ideologues.
yes, I'd agree; the 'Chicago Boys' distorted & badly framed economics remains a major problem
Actually, I might do that after the latest music posts concludes... thanks for the suggestion.
Exactly & reading WoN without reading ToMS means people haven't grasped his economics in the round
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Emeritus Prof Christopher May
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