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In my recent post on US manufacturing jobs and tariffs, I mentioned a Wall Street Journal article that pointed toward American tariffs having little impact on Chinese exports; the exports are simply being shifted to other countries. In the earlier post, I discussed what that fact meant for US manufacturing jobs. Here, I discuss what .. MORE
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Adam Smith
There were two types of slaves in Scotland during Adam Smith’s lifetime. The first were chattel slaves of African descent. This is what most people envision today when they think about slavery—people who are regarded solely as property with no recourse or relief, even in the face of the most torturous conditions. The second were .. MORE
Adam Smith
This month marks the 250th anniversary of Adam Smith’s magnum opus, The Wealth of Nations. The Liberty Fund print edition is 950 pages (excluding material added by the editors) and just about every page is chock full of wisdom. While there are some flaws, we rightfully celebrate this book as the monumental leap forward to .. MORE
Adam Smith
We’re joining our friends at Liberty Matters in their celebration of the 250th anniversary of the publication of An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations through a series of six weekly essays. In this fourth essay, Brianne Wolf explores Book IV of Wealth of Nations, where Smith discusses the mercantile system, .. MORE
Price Theory
Question: Housing is a highly durable good and often lasts for many decades. Consider the housing market in Cleveland. Suppose that in 2026: Cleveland has 250,000 existing homes, all built before the year 2000. Homes never depreciate. No new homes have been built in Cleveland over the past 26 years. The marginal cost of building .. MORE
Adam Smith
The Wealth of Nations is a true classic of English literature. It is just not one that has ever been widely loved or popularly read. When The Wealth of Nations was published in 1776, Thomas Strahan, its publisher, said “the sale … has been more than I could have expected from a work that requires .. MORE
Adam Smith
We’re joining our friends at Liberty Matters in their celebration of the 250th anniversary of the publication of An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations through a series of six weekly essays. In this third essay, Dennis C. Rasmussen explores Book III of Wealth of Nations, where Smith uses a story .. MORE
Adam Smith
Smith begins An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations with the following claim: “The greatest improvement in the productive powers of labour, and the greater part of the skill, dexterity, and judgment with which it is any where directed, or applied, seem to have been the effects of the division .. MORE
Adam Smith
“Give us this day our daily bread.” Adam Smith was at best an indifferent Kirk of Scotland churchman, but he would have known these words, which Jesus prescribes to his followers in the Sermon on the Mount, very well. The Lord’s Prayer speaks to one of the most basic questions of human survival. How will we .. MORE
Tariffs
We’ve posted the second of two cross-posted articles with Law & Liberty in response to the Supreme Court ruling in Learning Resources v. Trump. Today, David Hebert explains why the economic fallout from the tariffs can’t be reversed by the Court’s ruling. From the article: Just over a year ago, citing the International Emergency Economic .. MORE
“Smith is a friend of competitive markets and the division of labor and the institutions that secure these. But within the division of labor and the governance of these institutions, the population needs to be not just prudent, but also to become educated in skill, dexterity, and good judgment, as Smith shows in Book V.” .. MORE
“Much of Book 3 is dedicated to a historical account of how and why the feudal order that prevailed throughout Europe for many centuries eventually gave way to a liberal, commercial order—that is, how a world dominated by hierarchy, dependence, and intrastate conflict was superseded by one in which the rule of law reigned and .. MORE
“Much of Book 3 is dedicated to a historical account of how and why the feudal order that prevailed throughout Europe for many centuries eventually gave way to a liberal, commercial order—that is, how a world dominated by hierarchy, dependence, and intrastate conflict was superseded by one in which the rule of law reigned and .. MORE
For Smith, moral philosophy is the study of virtue and the faculty of mind that allows us to determine what is praise- or blameworthy conduct. When we understand the project of the moral sentiments, we can see that Smith adopts the same logic in his analysis of political economy. Political economy provides a lens through .. MORE
Nicely explained. I, too, like the Carbaugh text, and adopted it when I taught International Economics years ago.
Bill, February 6