Speaking of Smith Archives

Empathy, Exchange, and the Dangers of Demonization

June 1, 2020

Can you talk me out of my despondency today?

Modern Society Allows Appreciation of Frontline Workers

May 29, 2020

"...modernity, whatever its flaws, can’t take the blame for this shortcoming. If anything, it positions us to remedy it."

Updating Adam Smith

May 25, 2020

Ibn Khaldoun: Smithian Before Smith

May 22, 2020

The East Asian economic miracle: An iron hand, or an invisible one?

May 18, 2020

A great leader isn’t necessary for great results, and an invisible hand beats an iron one any day.

Being Me Being You

May 15, 2020

"...we are all creatures who are constantly trying to feel as other human beings do."

Pestilential Politics

May 11, 2020

Despite fervent claims that we are currently undergoing an “unprecedented” calamity, however, we’ve been here before. While the Covid-19 crisis is stunning in modern terms, it is a mere flesh wound in the annals of political turmoil.

Joining The Club

May 8, 2020

Fighting COVID-19 with Pretty Machines

May 4, 2020

Today’s machines are even prettier than the cleverly rigged piece of rope Smith admires. They are robots that help enable the prosperity of modern society. And during this time of global epidemic, their result is more than mere diversion.

Cromwell and the Chiseling of the Court

May 1, 2020

“It is hard to determine what a monarch may or may not do.”

The 18th Century and Social Networking

April 26, 2020

“...The mirth of … company is highly agreeable to him, and he regards this correspondence of their sentiments with his own as the greatest applause.”

A Sense of How to Respond

April 23, 2020

Part of what makes a crisis like the COVID-19 pandemic so unsettling is that the established rules have to go out the window... Luckily, we have more than an inflexible list of rules. We have our moral sentiments.