What Would Adam Smith Make of Australia? | A C+ Scorecard

About this episode

The episode discusses how Australia's market economy has deviated from Adam Smith's vision, highlighting issues like weak competition and high household debt.

Adam Smith is often invoked as the intellectual godfather of modern capitalism — but he was also a moral philosopher. Judo Bank founder and former CEO Joseph Healy joins Gene Tunny to argue that Australia’s market economy has drifted from Smith’s vision. From weak competition and high household debt to corporate scandals and lobbying influence, this episode explores whether capitalism has been “hijacked by capitalists” — and why complacency may be Australia’s greatest economic risk.

People in this episode

Host: Gene Tunny

Guest: Joseph Healy

Topics covered

• Adam Smith
• capitalism
• Australia
• market economy
• competition
• household debt
• corporate scandals
• lobbying

Keywords

• economic risk
• moral philosophy
• capitalists

Mentioned in this episode

Products: Judo Bank

Places: Australia

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