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Speaking of Smith Archives

Adam Smith's Lost Loves

Enrique Guerra-Pujol for AdamSmithWorks

Did Adam Smith know what it was like to be in love? Here's a law professor's primer on the evidence.

From the Archive: Smith on Liberty

Shanon FitzGerald for AdamSmithWorks
The Amagi, Liberty Fund's logo, is the earliest known symbol for liberty.

In this post, section editor Shanon FitzGerald rounds up some of the top “Speaking of Smith” essays on Adam Smith and the idea of liberty.

Smith and Marx: Vision and Analysis

Giandomenica Becchio for AdamSmithWorks

Karl Marx did work from analytic foundations bequeathed to posterity by Adam Smith, but the two social theorists' visions could hardly be more distinct.

What Adam Smith Ate: Toulouse Cassoulet

Renee Wilmeth for AdamSmithWorks

Learn about a classic dish of the Toulouse region, cassoulet, and get the recipe to try to make it yourself!

Smith on Rousseau

Daniel B. Klein for AdamSmithWorks
May 3, 2021

In this video, Daniel B. Klein speaks about the historical and intellectual relationship between Adam Smith and Jean-Jacques Rousseau. 

Adam Smith and Military Intervention

Edwin van de Haar for AdamSmithWorks

In Smith’s mind, military interventions should always be exceptions: never a duty, and almost never a right.

What Adam Smith Ate: The Hop Supper

Renee Wilmeth for AdamSmithWorks

Learn about the traditional European hop-harvest festival, with its accompanying "hop supper," and get the recipe for beer-braised pork loin roast!

The Division of Labor: Early Examples in China and India

Amy Willis for AdamSmithWorks

How does the story of the spindle wheel fit with what Adam Smith says about the rise of the division of labor? Amy Willis, drawing from Virginia Postrel's new book The Fabric of Civilization, zeroes in on the central role of decentralized innovation.

Three Ways of Looking at the Water-Diamond “Paradox”

Kwok Ping Tsang for AdamSmithWorks

How should students and scholars think about Adam Smith's comparison of the worth of water to that of diamonds? Virginia Tech Economics Professor Kwok Ping Tsang shares three ways of looking at it below.

Adam Smith and the Market for Kidneys for Transplantation

Walter Castro and Julio J. Elías for AdamSmithWorks

Could the kidney transplantation system benefit from an injection of Adam Smith's ideas? Authors Castro and Elias, drawing on research published with Gary Becker, share their analysis below. 

Adam Smith and the Creation of Horror in Frankenstein

Shanon FitzGerald for AdamSmithWorks

What makes Mary Shelley's Frankenstein one of the most effective horror novels of all time? The answer would be incomplete without reference to Adam Smith.