NAC: Book review: was Answers to Brett's Questions

[Brandon Hull]

Thank you Paul.  Since we have veered this far off topic, I'll weigh in with a book review.  Whether you are in the Milton Friedman (Royal) or Keynes-Sierra Club (Dikeman) school of economic theory/agenda, you'll love Peter Dougherty's book "Who's afraid of Adam Smith: How the market got it's soul"  I'm only halfway through, but I'm loving it.  Dougherty's contribution to the debate is to highlight that the bulk of Smith's scholarly work was moral/ethical in nature.  So he draws as heavily from "A Theory of Moral Sentiments," as he does from "Wealth of Nations."

Adam Smith tends unjustly to be tarred with the same brush as hard core Darwinian capitalists like Gordon Gehko ("greed is good") and that iron maiden, Ayn Rand.  That's unfair.  He claimed a civilizing influence for his "invisible hand" which just hasn't been fully realized yet.  ( and don't give me any grief for the "work in process" disclaimer.  The communists were protesting "you can't make an omlet..." for an entire century, until the whole system collapsed...)  Adam Smith made a lot of money in his lifetime, but left a tiny estate.  He'd given it all away.

Audi content:  Can I just say that last week, six inches of new snow+250HP+quattro was just a blessing from God?

Ok, let's check: politics, economics, environmentalism, weather, religion, all in one post.  Is there some prize?

Brandon H
eS2


>
> I don't want everyone spending a lot of time on this so I did
> the research and have the answers to
> the questions that Brett wanted you to ask.  It's a busy
> season and I had the time to do the
> research so here goes.  Happy Holidays.
>