Ep. 1: What We Get Wrong about Adam Smith, The Invisible Hand, and Self-Interest

Adam Smith's 'Invisible Hand' theory has dominated our understanding of economic behavior for centuries. But we don't understand Smith very well -- and we don't understand the choices of women very well, especially when it comes to the fulfilment of self-interest.

 

References

Smith, Adam. The Theory of Moral Sentiments, with an introduction by Amartya Sen and notes by Ryan Patrick Hanley. Penguin, 2009.

Smith, Adam. The Wealth of Nations Books I–III. Edited with an introduction and notes by Andrew Skinner. Penguin, 1999.

Smith, Adam. The Wealth of Nations Books IV–V. Edited with an introduction and notes by Andrew Skinner. Penguin, 1999.

Evensky, Jerry M., “Adam Smith’s Essentials: On Trust, Faith, and Free Markets.” 2011. Journal of the History of Economic Thought, Vol. 33, No. 2, pp. 249-268, 2011.

Plato. The Republic, edited by G. R. F. Ferrari, translated by Tom Griffith. Cambridge University Press, 2000.

Sen, Amartya. “Adam Smith and the contemporary world.” Erasmus Journal for Philosophy and Economics, Volume 3, Issue 1, Spring 2010, pp. 50-67.

Scott, Linda. The Cost of Sexism: How the Economy Is Built for Men and Why We Must Reshape It. Faber & Faber, 2020.

Further Reading

Birch, Thomas D. “An Analysis of Adam Smith’s Theory of Charity and the Problems of the Poor.” Eastern Economic Journal 24, no. 1 (1998): 25–41.

Perelman, Michael. “The Neglected Economics of Trust: The Bentham Paradox and Its Implications.” The American Journal of Economics and Sociology 57, no. 4 (1998): 381–89.

 

Cover art by Cato Benschop (IG: @catobenschop).

 

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