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Speaking of Smith Archives

Even Homer Nods: My Line-edits to The Theory of Moral Sentiments

July 21, 2021


"Even Homer nods. That is, even the wisest and most perspicacious authors make mistakes." In this post, Klein unpacks some of Smith's.

Adam Smith—Abducted!

July 14, 2021


Read about Adam Smith's abduction in infancy, and learn how to cook a Roma-style beef stew. 

Human Action, But Not Human Design

July 11, 2021


Part III of a Five-Part #ReadWithMe of Adam Ferguson’s An Essay on the History of Civil Society.

How Rude: Adam Ferguson on Civilization

July 5, 2021

Part II of a Five-Part #ReadWithMe of Adam Ferguson’s An Essay on the History of Civil Society 

July 4th: One Piece of Our Founding Trilogy

July 1, 2021


We should not view the three holidays of April 9th, Juneteenth, and July 4th as wholly distinct occasions, but rather as three parts of a coherent American whole.

What Adam Smith Ate: Sugar Lumps and Strawberry Fool

 June 23, 2021


Learn about Smith's sugar-lump habit, and how to make the eighteenth-century English equivalent of strawberry shortcake, "Strawberry Fool."

Moral Sentiments, Active and Passive

June 21, 2021


Klein walks us through Adam Smith's implicit distinction between active and passive moral sentiments.

What Makes a Human?

 June 16, 2021

Part 1 of a #ReadWithMe of Adam Ferguson’s An Essay on the History of Civil Society.

Sympathy and Spectatorship in Adam Smith: A Collection

June 13, 2021


One of Liberty Fund's 2021 Summer Scholar Interns compiles a list of essential readings on Adam Smith and his core concepts of sympathy, spectatorship, and virtue. 

Roget.org and Other Sites to Bookmark

June 10, 2021


Daniel B. Klein interviews Dr. L. John Old, creator of the thesaurus website Roget.org.

FDR versus Liberalism: Quotations from David Green, 1987

June 3, 2021


In this post, economist Daniel B. Klein unpacks the relationship between President Franklin D. Roosevelt and the meaning of the word "liberalism," drawing on David Green's 1987 book, The Language of Politics in America: Shaping Political Consciousness from McKinley to Reagan.