Adam Smith Wasn't a Progressive
Stop quoting him out of context on taxation, education, and monopoly.
July 2023
Cover Story
Adam Smith Understood That We Need Each Other
The thinker's views of human sympathy, beneficence, justice, and the division of labor still resonate.
Features
Adam Smith's Quiet Christianity
The Scottish thinker's famous friendship with David Hume demonstrates his liberalism, not his atheism.
Butchers, Brewers, and Bakers Still Thrive in Urban Marketplaces
Adam Smith recognized that man has a natural "propensity to truck, barter, and exchange."
Adam Smith Said Colonists Should Join the British Union. Was He Serious?
Reading between the lines of The Wealth of Nations
Comic: The Revised Adam Smith
The ghost of the so-called father of economics chastises those who would use his words for their own misbegotten ends.
Gadgets and Gizmos That Inspired Adam Smith
Smith appreciated the beauty and allure of intricate systems.
Interview
An Interview With Adam Smith (No, Not That One)
The so-called father of capitalism was not available for comment, so we talked to another economist, Adam C. Smith.
Topics
Adam Smith Has Something for Everyone
From the American Founders to communist meme creators, people have long claimed Smith's endorsement for their ideas.
This Pink Door Wasn't Historical Enough for Edinburgh
The City of Edinburgh Council ordered a woman to repaint her door or face fines up to 20,000 pounds.
Rent Control 2.0 Looks a Lot Like Rent Control 1.0
Rent control is getting a rhetorical makeover from progressive policy makers.
Poppy Seeds Trigger Child Neglect Investigations
Drug tests for new moms are "unnecessary and nonconsensual," argues the ACLU.
Don't 'Pause' A.I. Research
Doomsayers have a long track record of being wrong.
Cops Use Phony Diagnoses To Explain Away Stun Gun Deaths
The National Association of Medical Examiners now says "excited delirium" should not be cited as a cause of death.
Is Encouraging Illegal Immigration Protected by the First Amendment?
Criticizing the law by calling for people to break it is an American tradition.
Trump's New York Indictment Was Just the Beginning of His Legal Woes
The Manhattan case stinks of partisan politics, but Trump faces more serious legal jeopardy on at least three other fronts.
Bombing Mexican Cartels Won't Stop Fentanyl
A Republican-sponsored resolution would authorize the president to "use all necessary and appropriate force" against foreigners involved in fentanyl trafficking.
No, Corporate Greed Didn't Cause the 2023 Egg Price Shock
A much more plausible explanation is the avian flu outbreak that devastated the poultry industry last year.
The New Right Isn't So New
Left-wing totalitarianism and right-wing authoritarianism are not our only options.
Books
How Pirates in Madagascar Spread Enlightenment Ideas
Pirate Enlightenment documents an interracial experiment in stateless self-governance.
Thank Dutch Merchants, Not a Strong State, for Capitalism
Pioneers of Capitalism chronicles centuries of bottom-up economic evolution in the Netherlands.
Reviews
Review: How Tetris Escaped the Iron Curtain
The Apple TV+ film tells the story of an entrepreneur who helped bring a Soviet designer's game to the world.
Review: Ash Ketchum Was a Free-Range Kid
In the Pokemon universe, there's no central government and vital social services are provided by informal clubs.
Review: Computer-Generated Art, Decades Before Midjourney
Futuristically thrilling but aesthetically limited
Review: Ithaka Chronicles the Fight To Save Julian Assange
"If he goes down, so will journalism," Assange's father John Shipton says in the documentary.
Review: A Lesson on Political Ambition From Dungeons & Dragons Movie
Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves is more Rob Reiner than J.R.R. Tolkien.
Review: Henry George's Many Children
The 19th century reformer's influence on 20th century progressives, conservatives, and libertarians
ETC.
Lindy CEO: A.I. Might Be 'the Biggest Change in Human History'
"People are comparing A.I. to smartphones or the internet. I think it's much closer to the invention of fire or the wheel," says Flo Crivello.
Brickbats: July 2023
News of politicians, police, and bureaucrats behaving badly from around the world.
Archives: July 2023
Excerpts from Reason's vaults regarding Adam Smith
Quotes
What's Your Favorite Adam Smith Quote?
Reason contributors pay homage to a great thinker.
