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  • Adam Smith today
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  • Adam Smith today

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  • Adam Smith today
  • Adam Smith's impact

Adam Smith had a lasting impact on the way we think about the economy, politics and society. 

And his ideas still offer approaches for tackling 21st century problems.

Adam Smith painting with a close up of his face. Source: Kirkclady papers
Adam Smith painting with a close up of his face. Source: Kirkclady papers

Adam Smith The Kirkcaldy Papers

Thu, 29 Feb 2024 13:47:00 GMT

The Adam Smith Global Foundation published 'Adam Smith The Kirkcaldy Papers' to celebrate the Adam Smith Tercentenary.

A red book with the name Adam Smith on the spine of the book. Beside is another black and gold book Source: Shutterstock Publisher: B Calkins

Impact of Adam Smith

Smith's work had a lasting impact on the way we think about the economy, politics and society. And it still has relevance today.

  • Learn more about the impact of Smith's work
A white bust of Adam Smith casting a shadow against a black background

Can Adam Smith Fix Our Economy?

With a slew of difficult economic issues, the 21st century may be looking a lot like the 18th. In the final episode of a podcast series, Freakonomics Radio turns to "the father of economics" for solutions.

  • Can Adam Smith Fix Our Economy?
Logo of The Hunter Foundation, black text on a background including with a large H on a blue background

Government's Role in Today’s Economy: What Would Adam Smith Say?

Professor Cecilia Rouse challenged common perceptions around Adam Smith’s ideas on the government’s role in the economy in this third and final Hunter Foundation Lecture at the British Embassy in Washington DC, USA.

  • Hunter Foundation Lecture
Christel Fricke standing with Craig Smith presenting at the Hunter Foundation Lecture. Source: Charlotte Morris

Adam Smith's ethics: Psychological foundations in sympathy and normative aspirations to impartiality

Professor Christel Fricke, of the University of Oslo, Norway, discussed Smith's sympathetic process and how it provides a framework for developing modern codes of ethics and morality.  

More about the lecture

Ryan Griffiths speaking to an audience with Graeme Roy in amongst the crowd

Adam Smith's 'Coarse Clay' Political Realism

In this public lecture Professor Ryan Griffiths and the Research Group on Constitutional Studies at McGill University in Canada discussed how we can learn from Smith's work today.

  • Adam Smith's 'Coarse Clay' Political Realism
Professor Chandran Kukathas speaking at a lecture saying Panumure house with a presentation behind him Source: Charlotte

Smith and immigration

Professor Chandran Kukathas, Dean and Lee Kong Chian Chair Professor of Political Science at the School of Social Sciences at Singapore Management University, discussed the division of labour, the extent of the market and moral development.

Watch the full recording

Gita Gopinath

The power and perils of the "artificial hand"

Gita Gopinath, First Deputy Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund, spoke on considering artificial intelligence through the ideas of Adam Smith.

  • The power and perils of the "artificial hand"
Angus Deaton

Economic failure or failure of economics?

Professor Sir Angus Deaton, who won the Nobel prize in Economic Science in 2015, spoke on 'Economic failure or failure of economics?' for his Adam Smith 300 Hunter Foundation lecture.

  •  Economic failure or failure of economics? 
Close-up on Sam Peltzman's animated face and raised hands while he is speaking to a person whose face can't be seen. Source: Chicago Booth University

Are Adam Smith and his ideas misunderstood?

Professor Sam Peltzman, from Chicago Booth University in Boston, reflected on common public misunderstandings of Adam Smith's thinking.

  • Are Adam Smith and his ideas misunderstood?
University of Kent Logo with the School of Social Policy, Sociology and Social Researchr: Source: Balihar Sanghera, University of Kent

Why Adam Smith Still Matters

This symposium at the University of Kent discusses the impact Smith still has on the world today and why we should continue to talk and learn from Smith.

  • Why Adam Smith Still Matters

 

University of West Indies

Innovation and Sustainable Growth

In this event an expert panel at the University of the West Indies considered drawing lessons from Adam Smith's work on innovation and investment to support sustainable growth.

  • Innovation and Sustainable Growth panel discussion
Escudo del Instituto de Investigaciones Económicas de la UNAM

The theoretical legacy of Adam Smith: University of Mexico

Seminar at the Universidad Nacional Autónoma de Méxic (UNAM) highlighting the usefulness and importance of m Smith ideas for explaining current economic and social problems.

  • The theoretical legacy of Adam Smith
Photo of lights treaming past the UK Parliament building and Big Ben clock tower with the text 'Resolution Foundation'
Photo of lights treaming past the UK Parliament building and Big Ben clock tower with the text 'Resolution Foundation'

Enlightened economics: Lessons from Adam Smith on the economic challenges facing modern Britain

Wed, 13 Sep 2023 16:36:00 BST

Jesse Norman MP discusses Adam Smith in this event co-hosted by the Resolution Foundation and the Society of Professional Economists.

Painting called 'The Nelson Monument on Glasgow Green Struck by Lightning'. Circa 1810 by John Knox. Source: In the collection of Glasgow Life Museums, published on Art UK and reproduced under Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives licence https://artuk.org/discover/artworks/the-nelson-monument-on-glasgow-green-struck-by-lightning-84743
Painting called 'The Nelson Monument on Glasgow Green Struck by Lightning'. Circa 1810 by John Knox. Source: In the collection of Glasgow Life Museums, published on Art UK and reproduced under Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives licence https://artuk.org/discover/artworks/the-nelson-monument-on-glasgow-green-struck-by-lightning-84743

Adam Smith and Cultural Memory

Mon, 06 Mar 2023 23:39:00 GMT

How and why do we remember Adam Smith, and what meaning does this memory hold?

Street sign for Hutcheson Street, Merchant City in Glasgow. Source: It Wisnae Us: The Truth About Glasgow and Slavery https://it.wisnae.us/
Street sign for Hutcheson Street, Merchant City in Glasgow. Source: It Wisnae Us: The Truth About Glasgow and Slavery https://it.wisnae.us/

The Wealth of Nations, and 'Adam Smith questions' in Atlantic Slavery Studies

Mon, 06 Mar 2023 23:39:00 GMT

Continuing research agendas in the fields of Atlantic history and British slavery studies.

Sticker with the text '#BOYCOTT QATAR 2022. www.boycott-qatar.de' and an image of a football dragging a chain. Source: Markus Spiske on Unsplash https://unsplash.com/photos/0pKXTZSxqW4 Free to use under the Unsplash License
Sticker with the text '#BOYCOTT QATAR 2022. www.boycott-qatar.de' and an image of a football dragging a chain. Source: Markus Spiske on Unsplash https://unsplash.com/photos/0pKXTZSxqW4 Free to use under the Unsplash License

It Could Have Been Me: Adam Smith on Empathy and Diversity

Mon, 06 Mar 2023 23:39:00 GMT

How Adam Smith accounts for our willingness to empathize and take action.

A white bust of Adam Smith casting a shadow against a black background
A white bust of Adam Smith casting a shadow against a black background

How the work of Adam Smith could help solve the UK skills gap

Thu, 10 Aug 2023 15:53:00 BST

Principal of Glasgow University and economist Anton Muscatelli argues that the answer to the UK's productivity problem was identfied by Adam Smith and is still relevant today: public investment in quality education to close the skills gap and boost equality.

A red book with the name Adam Smith on the spine of the book. Beside is another black and gold book Source: Shutterstock Publisher: B Calkins
A red book with the name Adam Smith on the spine of the book. Beside is another black and gold book Source: Shutterstock Publisher: B Calkins

Free Thinking: Adam Smith

Fri, 30 Jun 2023 10:03:00 BST

The father of capitalism or a sensitive moral philosopher? Anne McElvoy hears about the unexpected side of Adam Smith and his enduring presence in modern political economy.

An opened book on top of a rock around a forest surrounded by trees blurred out. Source: Unsplash: Aaron Buden link: https://unsplash.com/photos/9zsHNt5OpqE
An opened book on top of a rock around a forest surrounded by trees blurred out. Source: Unsplash: Aaron Buden link: https://unsplash.com/photos/9zsHNt5OpqE

The issues Adam Smith wrote about are still relevant today

Wed, 07 Dec 2022 23:39:00 GMT

For The Herald, Professor Graeme Roy argues that as Adam Smith's ideas were crucial to helping establish the global economy we see today, it is remarkable how little we discuss his work.

Head of Adam Smith Business school John Finch standing with Principal of the University of Glasgow Anton Muscatelli, Dean of Social and Political sciences Sara Carter and Dean of External Engagement Graeme Roy Source: Adam Smith Business school
Head of Adam Smith Business school John Finch standing with Principal of the University of Glasgow Anton Muscatelli, Dean of Social and Political sciences Sara Carter and Dean of External Engagement Graeme Roy Source: Adam Smith Business school

Adam Smith 300 launch

Fri, 27 Jan 2023 10:49:00 GMT

At the Adam Smith 300 launch at the University of Glasgow leading scholars discussed Smith’s contribution to economics, philosophy and the arts.

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