Adam Smith: A Primer (Occasional Paper) (Paperback)

by Eamonn Butler (Author), Craig Smith (Contributor)

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Product Description
Despite his fame, there is still widespread ignorance about the breadth of Adam Smith's contributions to economics, politics and philosophy. In "Adam Smith: A Primer", Eamonn Butler provides an authoritative introduction to the life and work of this 'founder of economics'. The author examines not only "The Wealth of Nations", with its insights on trade and the division of labour, but also Smith's less well-known works, such as "The Theory of Moral Sentiments", his lectures, and his writings on the history of science. Butler therefore provides a comprehensive, but concise, overview of Adam Smith's intellectual achievements. Whilst earlier writers may have studied economic matters, it is clear that the scope of Smith's enquiries was remarkable. In relating economic progress to human nature and institutional evolution he provided a completely new understanding of how human society works, and was very much a precursor of later writers such as Hayek and Popper. Indeed, with poor governance, protectionism and social engineering still commonplace, Smith's arguments are still highly relevant to policymakers today. "Adam Smith: A Primer" includes a foreword by Sir Alan Peacock, an introduction by Gavin Kennedy and a commentary by Craig Smith.

Product Details

• Paperback: 125 pages
• Publisher: Inst of Economic Affairs (July 30, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0255366086
• ISBN-13: 978-0255366083
• Product Dimensions: 7.6 x 5 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 5.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #1,606,727 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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0 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Since 1776? Worth Waiting For., June 14, 2008

By	S. J. Masty "writer/reviewer" (London) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This is the finest, clearest, most concise, least politically-loaded, most readable and welcome biography of Adam Smith ever written, and every economist I know has concurred. The author portrays Smith not as some right-wing bully-boy or libertarian ideologue or proto Social Darwinian, but as the world's first behavioural psychologist, studying people and incentives. The portrait will surprise anyone, even those of us who thought we had a clear picture of Smith from university.

Smith emerges as profoundly interesting, rubbing elbows with every thinker of his age, while giving a view of the world that is stunningly modern in almost every regard -- with a sensible role for public and private sectors that few would disagree with nowadays apart from either far extreme. Meanwhile, Smith's damning attacks on colonialism and greedy and unproductive mercantilist economics, will resonate even now, showing him as being far ahead of his time.