{"version":"https://jsonfeed.org/version/1.1","title":"Speaking of Smith | Adam Smith Works","home_page_url":"https://www.adamsmithworks.org/speakings","feed_url":"https://www.adamsmithworks.org/speakings.json","description":"The Speaking of Smith blog is the home of brief and lively exploration of the work, thought, and world of Adam Smith, often in a contemporary context.","language":"en","items":[{"id":"https://www.adamsmithworks.org/speakings/munger-wealthofnations-podcast-summary","url":"https://www.adamsmithworks.org/speakings/munger-wealthofnations-podcast-summary","title":"Forever On Point: Adam Smith’s Wealth of Nations at 250","content_html":"\u003cdiv class=\"trix-text\" id=\"teaser_1\"\u003e\n\u003cimg src=\"https://www.adamsmithworks.org/system/uploads/store/58acd0a24dd2c8034e3d82977447dafd.jpg\" width=\"576\" height=\"375\"\u003e\u003cfigcaption class=\"attachment__caption\"\u003e\u003c/figcaption\u003e\u003cbr\u003eA recap of Michael Munger's podcast exploration of \u003cem\u003eWealth of Nations\u003c/em\u003e on the book's 250th anniversary. \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\n\u003c/div\u003e","date_published":"2026-03-09T11:00:00+0000","image":"https://www.adamsmithworks.org/system/uploads/store/58acd0a24dd2c8034e3d82977447dafd.jpg"},{"id":"https://www.adamsmithworks.org/speakings/adam-smith-s-wealth-of-nations-always-contemporary-munger","url":"https://www.adamsmithworks.org/speakings/adam-smith-s-wealth-of-nations-always-contemporary-munger","title":"Adam Smith's Wealth of Nations: Always Contemporary","content_html":"\u003cdiv class=\"trix-text\" id=\"teaser_1\"\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\u003cdiv class=\"trix-text\" id=\"teaser_2\"\u003e\n\u003cimg src=\"https://www.adamsmithworks.org/system/uploads/store/34443f74101c0e3d74fbf585a97a1873.jpg\" width=\"315\" height=\"450\"\u003e\u003cfigcaption class=\"attachment__caption\"\u003e\u003c/figcaption\u003e\u003cbr\u003eIn this final episode, Munger assesses Adam Smith’s enduring ideas—the moral authorization of commerce, division of labor, emergent order—and confront where his optimism breaks: how democratic politics and business fuse to create monopoly privilege. The result is a maintenance‑intensive commercial order that needs competition defended, not assumed.\u003c/div\u003e","date_published":"2026-02-24T12:00:00+0000","image":"https://www.adamsmithworks.org/system/uploads/store/34443f74101c0e3d74fbf585a97a1873.jpg"},{"id":"https://www.adamsmithworks.org/speakings/adam-smith-s-book-on-jurisprudence-an-appreciation-of-the-wealth-of-nations","url":"https://www.adamsmithworks.org/speakings/adam-smith-s-book-on-jurisprudence-an-appreciation-of-the-wealth-of-nations","title":"Adam Smith’s Book on Jurisprudence: An Appreciation of The Wealth of Nations","content_html":"\u003cdiv class=\"trix-text\" id=\"teaser_1\"\u003e\n\u003cimg src=\"https://www.adamsmithworks.org/system/uploads/store/30b4d993c5f55ad5937a096a56d9bbf5.jpg\" width=\"500\" height=\"500\"\u003e\u003cfigcaption class=\"attachment__caption\"\u003e\u003c/figcaption\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThis year marks the 250th anniversary of the publication of Adam Smith’s \u003ca href=\"https://www.adamsmithworks.org/documents/cannan-edition\"\u003e\u003cem\u003eAn Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations\u003c/em\u003e\u003c/a\u003e.  The \u003cem\u003eWealth of Nations\u003c/em\u003e was literally world-changing.  It was one of the first systematic explorations of what we now call economics, and the breadth of the work is global.\u003c/div\u003e","date_published":"2026-02-05T12:00:00+0000","image":"https://www.adamsmithworks.org/system/uploads/store/30b4d993c5f55ad5937a096a56d9bbf5.jpg"},{"id":"https://www.adamsmithworks.org/speakings/munger-podcast-spending-taxes-debt-episode-9","url":"https://www.adamsmithworks.org/speakings/munger-podcast-spending-taxes-debt-episode-9","title":"Adam Smith's Wealth of Nations: Spending, Taxing, and Debt","content_html":"\u003cdiv class=\"trix-text\" id=\"teaser_1\"\u003e\n\u003cimg src=\"https://www.adamsmithworks.org/system/uploads/store/41a5c979108619ba06fcc1418b6ee325.png\" width=\"500\" height=\"333\"\u003e\u003cfigcaption class=\"attachment__caption\"\u003e\u003c/figcaption\u003e\u003cbr\u003eIn this, our ninth episode, Mike Munger walks us through Book Five of \u003cem\u003eThe Wealth of Nations\u003c/em\u003e to map a state that defends, adjudicates, and builds wisely, then pays for it without killing growth. From militias to standing armies, fee-based courts to salaried judges, turnpikes to basic schooling, and taxes to debt, we test what holds up now.\u003c/div\u003e","date_published":"2026-01-27T12:00:00+0000","image":"https://www.adamsmithworks.org/system/uploads/store/41a5c979108619ba06fcc1418b6ee325.png"},{"id":"https://www.adamsmithworks.org/speakings/adam-smith-s-nation-of-shopkeepers","url":"https://www.adamsmithworks.org/speakings/adam-smith-s-nation-of-shopkeepers","title":"Adam Smith's Nation of Shopkeepers","content_html":"\u003cdiv class=\"trix-text\" id=\"teaser_1\"\u003e\n\u003cimg src=\"https://www.adamsmithworks.org/system/uploads/store/3ee53c30b8af43d41cbab757b99a45eb.png\" width=\"333\" height=\"500\"\u003e\u003cfigcaption class=\"attachment__caption\"\u003e\u003c/figcaption\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eAdam Smith closes Book IV of the \u003cem\u003eWealth of Nations \u003c/em\u003eby dismantling mercantilism through the lens of colonial policy, monopoly, and rent seeking, then weighs physiocracy against the system of natural liberty. We trace why colonies grew despite Europe, not because of it, and how “wealth as money” broke policy and fueled war.\u003c/div\u003e","date_published":"2025-12-30T12:00:00+0000","image":"https://www.adamsmithworks.org/system/uploads/store/3ee53c30b8af43d41cbab757b99a45eb.png"},{"id":"https://www.adamsmithworks.org/speakings/adam-smith-is-winning-the-battle-of-ideas","url":"https://www.adamsmithworks.org/speakings/adam-smith-is-winning-the-battle-of-ideas","title":"Adam Smith is Winning the Battle of Ideas","content_html":"\u003cdiv class=\"trix-text\" id=\"teaser_1\"\u003e \u003cimg src=\"https://www.adamsmithworks.org/system/uploads/store/e262966961b6be54158896bb8280c571.jpg\" width=\"500\" height=\"500\"\u003e\u003cfigcaption class=\"attachment__caption\"\u003e\u003c/figcaption\u003eAdam Smith’s “obvious and simple system of natural liberty” didn’t just reshape economics—it helped launch a global transformation.  \u003c/div\u003e","date_published":"2025-12-10T12:00:00+0000","image":"https://www.adamsmithworks.org/system/uploads/store/e262966961b6be54158896bb8280c571.jpg"},{"id":"https://www.adamsmithworks.org/speakings/the-errors-of-mercantilism-bullion-balances-and-bounties","url":"https://www.adamsmithworks.org/speakings/the-errors-of-mercantilism-bullion-balances-and-bounties","title":"The Errors of Mercantilism--Bullion, Balances, and Bounties","content_html":"\u003cdiv class=\"trix-text\" id=\"teaser_1\"\u003e\n\u003cimg src=\"https://www.adamsmithworks.org/system/uploads/store/49af1edf70f411d47f54ff86da292442.png\" width=\"500\" height=\"500\"\u003e\u003cfigcaption class=\"attachment__caption\"\u003e\u003c/figcaption\u003e\u003cbr\u003e Mike Munger explores Smith's detailed study of the the deep-seated flaws of mercantilist policy—why chasing bullion, tugging at balance-of-trade figures, and propping up bounties ultimately undermined economic prosperity. Tracing out the first half of \u003cem\u003eWealth of Nations\u003c/em\u003e Book IV shows how mercantilism mistakes money for wealth, how protection creates monopolies at home, and why free exchange raises real prosperity. Munger also explores Smith's two narrow exceptions—defense and tax parity—while rejecting bounties and politicized treaties that entangle trade with war.\u003c/div\u003e","date_published":"2025-11-25T12:00:00+0000","image":"https://www.adamsmithworks.org/system/uploads/store/49af1edf70f411d47f54ff86da292442.png"},{"id":"https://www.adamsmithworks.org/speakings/extra-munger-the-scottish-enlightenment-and-smith-s-origins","url":"https://www.adamsmithworks.org/speakings/extra-munger-the-scottish-enlightenment-and-smith-s-origins","title":"Extra: The Scottish Enlightenment and Smith's Origins","content_html":"\u003cdiv class=\"trix-text\" id=\"teaser_1\"\u003e\n\u003cimg src=\"https://www.adamsmithworks.org/system/uploads/store/acb07d908e3df05723b44ed8e80e50da.png\" width=\"450\" height=\"450\"\u003e\u003cfigcaption class=\"attachment__caption\"\u003e\u003c/figcaption\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThe Scottish Enlightenment was a remarkable intellectual movement that shaped modern economics, philosophy, and social science. Adam Smith was at its center. Learn more from Anna Leman and Michael Munger. \u003c/div\u003e","date_published":"2025-11-02T12:00:00+0000","image":"https://www.adamsmithworks.org/system/uploads/store/acb07d908e3df05723b44ed8e80e50da.png"},{"id":"https://www.adamsmithworks.org/speakings/calcagno-exemption-is-the-new-privilege","url":"https://www.adamsmithworks.org/speakings/calcagno-exemption-is-the-new-privilege","title":"Exemption is the New Privilege","content_html":"\u003cdiv class=\"trix-text\" id=\"teaser_1\"\u003e\n\u003cimg src=\"https://www.adamsmithworks.org/system/uploads/store/075f1b65f3d97e09052f180b89c71aeb.jpg\" width=\"500\" height=\"282\"\u003e\u003cfigcaption class=\"attachment__caption\"\u003e\u003c/figcaption\u003e\u003cbr\u003eFree and open trade is better for building wealth and human flourishing than privilege and protection for the select few. \u003c/div\u003e","date_published":"2025-10-31T11:00:00+0000","image":"https://www.adamsmithworks.org/system/uploads/store/075f1b65f3d97e09052f180b89c71aeb.jpg"},{"id":"https://www.adamsmithworks.org/speakings/division-of-land","url":"https://www.adamsmithworks.org/speakings/division-of-land","title":"How Commerce Invented Liberty: Smith \u0026 the Division of Land","content_html":"\u003cdiv class=\"trix-text\" id=\"teaser_1\"\u003e\n\u003cimg src=\"https://www.adamsmithworks.org/system/uploads/store/9562b3adfafa3d4159aecd5af0fdc69d.jpg\" width=\"576\" height=\"457\"\u003e\u003cfigcaption class=\"attachment__caption\"\u003e\u003c/figcaption\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eMike Munger explains Adam Smith’s institutional theory of growth: left to its “natural course,” capital first flows to agriculture, then domestic manufactures, and only later to foreign trade. In Europe, that order was inverted by feudal institutions—primogeniture, entails, insecure tenures, petty tolls—that discouraged agricultural investment and locked land and people into dependency. \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\n\u003c/div\u003e\u003cdiv class=\"trix-text\" id=\"teaser_2\"\u003eSmith’s striking claim: commerce and manufactures brought “order and good government,” and with them liberty—not the other way around. As trade offered nobles consumable luxuries, they traded away retinues and coercive power for private goods, unintentionally undermining feudalism. Town wealth then revived agriculture via investment and wider markets.\u003cstrong\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c/strong\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\n\u003c/div\u003e","date_published":"2025-10-21T11:00:00+0000","image":"https://www.adamsmithworks.org/system/uploads/store/9562b3adfafa3d4159aecd5af0fdc69d.jpg"},{"id":"https://www.adamsmithworks.org/speakings/financial-decisions-are-also-moral-decisions","url":"https://www.adamsmithworks.org/speakings/financial-decisions-are-also-moral-decisions","title":"Financial Decisions are also Moral Decisions","content_html":"\u003cdiv class=\"trix-text\" id=\"teaser_1\"\u003e\n\u003cimg src=\"https://www.adamsmithworks.org/system/uploads/store/1271df46a43b6e3fb182daeee5211814.jpg\" width=\"500\" height=\"334\"\u003e\u003cfigcaption class=\"attachment__caption\"\u003e\u003c/figcaption\u003e\u003cbr\u003e \u003ca href=\"https://www.adamsmithworks.org/documents/otteson-brief-smith-bio\"\u003eAdam Smith\u003c/a\u003e and your impartial spectator can help you chose between spending a windfall on designer clothes or investing in the future. \u003c/div\u003e","date_published":"2025-10-12T11:00:00+0000","image":"https://www.adamsmithworks.org/system/uploads/store/1271df46a43b6e3fb182daeee5211814.jpg"},{"id":"https://www.adamsmithworks.org/speakings/stock-capital-and-the-wealth-of-nations","url":"https://www.adamsmithworks.org/speakings/stock-capital-and-the-wealth-of-nations","title":"Stock, Capital, and the Wealth of Nations","content_html":"\u003cdiv class=\"trix-text\" id=\"teaser_1\"\u003e\n\u003cimg src=\"https://www.adamsmithworks.org/system/uploads/store/769242b4775994c4111094079344b7eb.png\" width=\"500\" height=\"333\"\u003e\u003cfigcaption class=\"attachment__caption\"\u003e\u003c/figcaption\u003e \u003cbr\u003eMike Munger continues his Adam Smith series with Book II of \u003cem\u003eThe Wealth of Nations\u003c/em\u003e: the “division of stock.” He explains Smith’s distinctions between stock and capital, fixed vs. circulating capital, why saving fuels investment and growth, money as a mere “wheel of circulation,” banking’s role, productive vs. unproductive labor, interest and usury limits, and why policy should let capital flow—favoring domestic agriculture and manufacturing over mercantilist schemes. \u003c/div\u003e","date_published":"2025-09-30T11:00:00+0000","image":"https://www.adamsmithworks.org/system/uploads/store/769242b4775994c4111094079344b7eb.png"},{"id":"https://www.adamsmithworks.org/speakings/podcast-before-capitalism-smith-s-real-theory-of-capital","url":"https://www.adamsmithworks.org/speakings/podcast-before-capitalism-smith-s-real-theory-of-capital","title":"Before Capitalism: Smith’s Real Theory of Capital","content_html":"\u003cdiv class=\"trix-text\" id=\"teaser_1\"\u003e\n\u003cimg src=\"https://www.adamsmithworks.org/system/uploads/store/e538751dc2582046ca87c6c7009eb993.png\" width=\"500\" height=\"500\"\u003e\u003cfigcaption class=\"attachment__caption\"\u003e\u003c/figcaption\u003e\u003cbr\u003eIn our latest installment, Mike Munger dives into \u003cem\u003eWealth of Nations\u003c/em\u003e Book II, reframing “capital” as Smith’s \u003cstrong\u003estock\u003c/strong\u003e and the “division of stock” that powers the \u003cstrong\u003edivision of labor\u003c/strong\u003e. He traces how secure institutions unlock investment, explains the “violence trap,” contrasts Smith with Marx, and shows why saving, banking, and capital allocation drive productivity—and modern prosperity. \u003c/div\u003e","date_published":"2025-09-23T11:00:00+0000","image":"https://www.adamsmithworks.org/system/uploads/store/e538751dc2582046ca87c6c7009eb993.png"}]}