Ben Waber reviewed Adam Smith's America by Glory M. Liu
An Incredible Examination of Adam Smith and the Ever-Changing American Interpretations of His Work
5 stars
Adam Smith's The Wealth of Nations was undeniably an extremely important work in his era, but arguably its legacy as a philosophical touchstone in the centuries since is even more profound. After all, anyone today with a BA in accounting or economics knows much more about economics than Adam Smith did. Rather the use of Adam Smith as a quasi-religious figure for different purposes - from justifying US industrial policy in the 18th and 19th century to neoliberal principles in the 20th shows the contradictory readings of his work. Liu traces and examines all of these issues methodically, revealing not only much more about Smith himself but also why it's important to critically engage with any invocation of his work. Highly recommend