The authentic Adam Smith

Atlas Books

2006

ix, 198 p.

Enterprise

Includes bibliographical references (p. [146]-175) and index.

9780393329940

contents: Fatherless world 1723-1746 -- Cave, tree, fountain 1746-1759 -- Pen-knives and snuff-boxes 1759 -- Infidel with a bag wig 1759-1776 -- Baboons in the orchard 1776 -- The forlorn station 1776-1790.

Adam Smith (1723-1790) has been adopted by neoconservatives as the ideological father of unregulated business and small government. His "invisible hand" has become a commanding shorthand for politicians promoting laissez-faire economics, but Smith never used it in reference to free-market capitalism. Smith was a deeply moral man who considered himself a philosopher, not an economist. Drawing on twenty-five years of research, James Buchan renders an Adam Smith untainted by political and economic interests. This compelling narrative uncovers Smith's passionate commitment to develop an ethical theory essential to his vision of a just commercial society.

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