Adam Smith turned 300 this June. Too often, he’s reduced to a meme about an invisible hand. Read closely, Smith placed ethics alongside efficiency — markets need norms and institutions to curb power and protect the vulnerable.
Two Smiths, one project
- The Theory of Moral Sentiments: sympathy, virtue and the impartial spectator.
- The Wealth of Nations: specialisation, trade and institutions.
Together, they argue for prosperity grounded in character and rules — a frame as modern as ever.