Adam Smith in His Time and Ours

For anyone interested in modern (late-stage) capitalism and how it interacts with government and societal institutions, this book is a real gem. Muller decries the blanket association of laissez-faire capitalism with Adam Smith's name utilizing a wealth of both primary and secondary sources, and through the historical lens of Smith's life and work.At the end of the day, Smith was no more a laissez-faire capitalist than he was a socialist. But his words have been co-opted by far too many proponents of big-business believing him to have declared that all government interference in markets is decidedly "uncapitalist." On the contrary, Smith believed that government and social institutions should design their structures based on what's best for the public good. In fact, he believed basically everything we do as humans, businesses, and societies should be structured toward the public good, and he spent his life working to figure out what that looked like and how it would work. At the time, that may have meant relaxing restrictions on imports and letting the market "do its thing," but he would likely be rolling over in his grave if he heard his name being used to defend lax government policy that benefits large corporations at the expense of the people.To truly apply Smith's social and economic genius to our modern systems, we'd be designing policy that works to strengthen communities and social ties, and brings more wealth to more people--even to the detriment of large businesses. And were Smith alive today, I believe he'd been leading the charge to do just that: to reign in the corporate greed and control at the expense of our communities that has defined late-stage capitalism writ large.

Placing Smith's economic thought within the context of his broader social science, Mr. Muller does a great service for those only familiar with "The Wealth of Nations." Although this book has immense value as a work of intellectual history, I was surprised how often Smith's moral and political reasoning provided useful insights for contemporary problems.I cannot speak highly enough of this book. I do, however, fault Mr. Muller (or his publishing company) for neglecting to make it available on Kindle. Your work merits an audience Mr. Muller, it should be made available on as many platforms as possible!

I am sure that anyone interested in the history of ideas will enjoy reading this book for its clear exposition of Smith's ideas and their relevance to today's economic, social, and political issues. Muller has a scholar's mastery of Smith's writings as well as a broad knowledge of their intellectual antecedents. The style is jargon-free.

Good book.

Prompt delivery, nice goods. Thanks.

This book describes Adam Smith as others who lived at the same time would have seen him (which is perforce a little different than we see him now, centuries later). For example, he was guided by and contributed to international philosophic disputes that appear antiquated or quaint or just plain ridiculous now, such as the discussions about "natural rights" volleyed between the French and the Scottish enlightenments. And certain parts of his writings that appear to us a little disconnected or exaggerated make perfect sense when understood as attempts to appeal to a particular government agency or a house of the British Parliament or a particular political party.And of course once one gets "in context" and starts reexamining the man, it's a slippery slope to reexamining the man's writings too. So it's not surprising that much of this book is devoted to reinterpreting Adam Smith's entire written oeuvre. Or to put it a little differently, this book winds up describing in great detail what Adam Smith's writings "really" meant. Unsurprisingly, there are a few significant differences between the results of this approach and how we understand his writings nowadays. For example he was not very concerned with (and even somewhat denigrated) both "laissez-faire" and "profits". Instead his main concern was designing and constructing a "decent society" that worked well for everyone. Although the book doesn't say so explicitly, the obvious conclusion is that if Adam Smith saw how his works are understood and used these days, he would be horrified.This book's general drift is completely unlike anything else I've seen about Adam Smith and his work. Its unusualness opens the question of whether it's a sober and scholarly examination (which unfortunately appears to be unique when it shouldn't), or the work of a crackpot with an axe to grind. The question is particularly acute since reconstruction of a past society is so much more about individual "feel" than about scholarly agreement. My own (rather limited) opinion is the scholarship is thorough and legitimate, the author's credentials and consistency across his other books exemplary, and the reinterpretation reasonable and sensible. In any case, it's worth reading for yourself (especially if you have a liking for "revisionism").

Muller puts Smith in historical context and integrates his major works ( Wealth of Nations , Theory of Moral Sentiments , and  Lectures on Jurisprudence , the latter surviving only in the form of student notes) to paint a complete picture of Smith as moral philosopher. Smith's philosophy is often mischaracterized as one in which "greed is good" and the market alone is sufficient to attain a civil and productive society. Muller goes far beyond this cartoonish version of Smith to place his appreciation for the market in its proper context and distinguish Smith from contemporaries such as  Mandeville  and Bentham.Muller's analysis is well-developed, but his exposition is at times repetitive. The final chapter, in which he attempts to relate Smith's philosophy to contemporary society, is a bit of a throwaway; and Muller is on shakier ground discussing economics than ethics. On balance, though, this is a fascinating and useful book that any student of Adam Smith should own. Despite the book's age, even the twenty-page Guide to Further Reading remains valuable.

One of the best written on Smith, very insightful, well researched.