About this episode

Professor Brianne Wolf discusses the true meaning of Adam Smith's ideas in 'Wealth of Nations' and their relevance today.

Adam Smith’s “Wealth of Nations” was published in 1776, shortly before America’s Declaration of Independence. Smith famously described an “invisible hand” at work behind markets and exchanges, but what did he really mean, and how have so many people misunderstood his many ideas about trade, markets, and free enterprise? Professor Brianne Wolf discusses Smith in surprising terms: he was first concerned with human morality and behavior, in the connections and community that individuals built with one another. Trade and economics were downstream of those fundamentals. Beyond that, Smith’s explanation of the advantages of markets over central planning or forced commerce are not well-known today - despite their relevance in the face of arguments in favor of government control of economic behavior. Would you like to give us some feedback about this episode? Go to this short survey: https://tinyurl.com/ym6zktkk Read Bri's article on Smith: https://tinyurl.com/5yuwsc9b Host: Jeff Sikkenga Executive Producer: Jeremy Gypton Subscribe: https://linktr.ee/theamericanidea Homepage: https://ashbrook.org/the-american-idea-podcast/

People in this episode

Host: Jeff Sikkenga

Guest: Brianne Wolf

Topics covered

• Adam Smith
• Wealth of Nations
• economics
• trade
• human morality
• free enterprise

Keywords

• Adam Smith
• Wealth of Nations
• invisible hand
• markets
• trade
• economics
• government control

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Ashbrook Center

Books & works: Wealth of Nations

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