Reason.com - Free Minds and Free Markets
Reason logo Reason logo
  • Latest
  • Magazine
    • Current Issue
    • Archives
    • Subscribe
    • Crossword
  • Video
  • Podcasts
    • All Shows
    • The Reason Roundtable
    • The Reason Interview With Nick Gillespie
    • The Soho Forum Debates
    • Just Asking Questions
    • The Best of Reason Magazine
    • Why We Can't Have Nice Things
  • Volokh
  • Newsletters
  • Donate
    • Donate Online
    • Donate Crypto
    • Ways To Give To Reason Foundation
    • Torchbearer Society
    • Planned Giving
  • Subscribe
    • Reason Plus Subscription
    • Print Subscription
    • Gift Subscriptions
    • Subscriber Support

Login Form

Create new account
Forgot password

Adam Smith

A statue of Adam Smith | Stefan Schäfer/ Lich/Wikimedia

Adam Smith

Tracking a Unicorn in Adam Smith's Edinburgh

Edinburgh was the Scottish economist's home and a place for anyone interested in a rich, varied, and liberal life.

Amanda France and Kent Lassman | 7.17.2025 6:00 AM

Joseph Sitglitz | Aristidis Vafeiadakis/ZUMAPRESS/Newscom

Book Reviews

Stiglitz's The Road to Freedom Under Scrutiny

Joseph Stiglitz thinks redistribution and regulation are the road to freedom—he’s wrong.

Ilia Murtazashvili | 6.9.2024 7:00 AM

The Great Antidote podcast logo | The Great Antidote

Economics

Review: This Young Podcaster Is Channeling Adam Smith

A locked-down high schooler started asking libertarian thinkers what people in her generation should know.

Katherine Mangu-Ward | 4.5.2024 6:30 AM

book1 | Illustration: Louis XIV and Minister Jean-Baptiste Colbert at the Royal Academy of Sciences; Pictorial Press Ltd./Alamy

Economics

Free Market Book Misstates the History of Free Market Thought

Author Jacob Soll's commitment to an untenable historical thesis distorts the facts.

Matt Zwolinski | 9.16.2023 6:00 AM

Adam-Smith-Sly-American-Proposal | Illustration: A print shows representations of Great Britain and the United States shaking hands; Library of Congress

Economics

Adam Smith Said Colonists Should Join the British Union. Was He Serious?

Reading between the lines of The Wealth of Nations

Daniel Klein | 6.30.2023 6:30 AM

culture | Illustration: Etui; ipamia/Fiverr

Economics

Gadgets and Gizmos That Inspired Adam Smith

Smith appreciated the beauty and allure of intricate systems.

Virginia Postrel | 6.25.2023 7:00 AM

interview | Photo by Chris Edwards

Economics

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.

Katherine Mangu-Ward | 6.25.2023 6:00 AM

Edwin Cannan and Adam Smith | Illustration: Lex Villena; Scottish National Gallery, Professor Edwin Cannan

Adam Smith

Adam Smith at 300: The Gospel of Mutual Service

A 1926 lecture captures timeless truths about the Scottish thinker.

Edwin Cannan and Daniel Klein | 6.20.2023 7:00 AM

A drawing from an 1899 patent on making wire paper clips | Illustration: 1899 patent for a paper clip machine; May 2017 issue of Reason

Politics

Archives: July 2023

Excerpts from Reason's vaults regarding Adam Smith

Reason Staff | 6.19.2023 6:00 AM

MarketplacesFindaWay1 | Photo: Mulberry Street, circa 1900; Library of Congress

Economics

Butchers, Brewers, and Bakers Still Thrive in Urban Marketplaces

Adam Smith recognized that man has a natural "propensity to truck, barter, and exchange."

M. Nolan Gray | 6.18.2023 6:00 AM

Adam--Smith-Understood--That-We--Need-Each-Other | Illustration: saratm/Fiverr; Photo: Vernon Smith; Isaac Reese

Economics

Adam Smith Understood That We Need Each Other

The thinker's views of human sympathy, beneficence, justice, and the division of labor still resonate.

Vernon L. Smith | 6.16.2023 6:30 AM

Peter Bagge on a yellow and red comic background | Lex Villena, Reason

Culture

Peter Bagge: From Adam Smith to Punk to Grunge

The libertarian creator of alternative comix Hate and Neat Stuff explains why he's fond of the invisible hand and individualism.

Nick Gillespie | 6.14.2023 2:13 PM

AdamSmithQuiet--Christianity | Illustration: saratm/Fiverr; Illustration: a_louro/Fiverr

Christianity

Adam Smith's Quiet Christianity

The Scottish thinker's famous friendship with David Hume demonstrates his liberalism, not his atheism.

Deirdre Nansen McCloskey | 6.11.2023 6:00 AM

Header-Adam-Smith-Revised | Illustrations: Peter Bagge

Economics

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.

Peter Bagge | 6.5.2023 6:00 AM

Adam-Smith-Wasnt-aProgressive | Illustration: saratm/Fiverr, lemono/iStock

Economics

Adam Smith Wasn't a Progressive

Stop quoting him out of context on taxation, education, and monopoly.

David Friedman | 6.4.2023 6:00 AM

forum | Illustrations: a_louro/Fiverr

Economics

What's Your Favorite Adam Smith Quote?

Reason contributors pay homage to a great thinker.

Reason Staff | 6.3.2023 7:00 AM

topicsfuture | Illustration: saratm/Fiverr

Politics

Adam Smith Has Something for Everyone

From the American Founders to communist meme creators, people have long claimed Smith's endorsement for their ideas.

Katherine Mangu-Ward | 6.1.2023 6:00 AM

Vernon Smith | Isaac Reese, Reason

Economics

Vernon Smith: Adam Smith's Relevance, Jimmy Carter's Deregulation, and the Fed's Biggest Mistake

"The greatest thing that ever happened to me was to be born in a free country of modest means and to have opportunities," says the Nobel Prize–winning economist.

Nick Gillespie | 5.10.2023 11:00 AM

Kevin McCarthy | Rod Lamkey - CNP / MEGA / Newscom/RSSIL/Newscom

Congress

A Surly Showdown for Speaker

Plus: Would Adam Smith be a libertarian if he were alive today?

Matt Welch, Katherine Mangu-Ward, Nick Gillespie, and Peter Suderman | 1.3.2023 5:19 PM

sipaphotoseleven371416 | Sipa USA/Newscom

Reason Roundup

More Mask Mandates Could Be Coming Even Though Vaccination Is Key to Curbing COVID-19

Plus: Adam Smith invented the social software for modern liberalism, the U.K. invites more skilled immigrants, and more...

Eric Boehm | 7.26.2021 9:32 AM

bagge | Peter Bagge

Comics

The Education of Adam Smith

Peter Bagge | 8.9.2020 6:00 AM

Large image on homepages

State Fiscal Crisis

Finding a Cure for Our Fiscal Insanity: Podcast

Peter Suderman, Len Gilroy, and C. Boyden Gray diagnose the country's many fiscal woes, and offer some solutions, at Reason's 50th anniversary celebration.

Matt Welch | 12.19.2018 10:15 AM

Large image on homepages | Davie County Public Library

Ideas

The Applied Theory of Bossing People Around

Richard Thaler's prize isn't noble.

Deirdre Nansen McCloskey | 2.11.2018 6:00 AM

Large image on homepages

Pope Francis

Lighten Up, Francis

The Pontiff ought to stick to flock-tending and lay off capitalism.

Andrew Heaton | 5.5.2017 4:00 PM

Large image on homepages | ©Mquirk/Dreamstime.com

History

Adam Smith Needs a Paper Clip

The pin factory, re-examined

Virginia Postrel | 4.13.2017 6:00 AM

Large image on homepages

Ideas

Nationalism and Socialism Are Very Bad Ideas

But liberalism is a good one.

Deirdre Nansen McCloskey | 1.26.2017 7:00 AM

  • About
  • Browse Topics
  • Events
  • Staff
  • Jobs
  • Donate
  • Advertise
  • Subscribe
  • Contact
  • Media
  • Shop
  • Amazon
Reason Facebook@reason on XReason InstagramReason TikTokReason YoutubeApple PodcastsReason on FlipboardReason RSS

© 2025 Reason Foundation | Accessibility | Privacy Policy | Terms Of Use

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Take Reason's short survey for a chance to win $300
Take Reason's short survey for a chance to win $300
Take Reason's short survey for a chance to win $300