Adam Smith’s Message in Today’s Language

“Adam Smith's Message in Today's Language.” Daily Telegraph, London (March 9, 1976.)

Excerpt:

“During the 40-odd years over which I have been lecturing on the history of economics, I have always found the lectures on Adam Smith particularly difficult to give.

By the time one comes to him one has shown that most of the decisive insights into technical issues that today constitute the backbone of economic theory, the problem of value and distribution and of money, had been gained a generation before him, and that he did not even fully appreciates the importance of this earlier work. And yet, like most other economists, I strongly felt that I wanted to convey that he was much the greatest of them all, and not only in influence but also in penetration and clear recognition of the central problems of the science.”

Online:
Amazon
Free Online Version [pdf]