Re:Adam Smith and Inequality (2014)
by zwayhowder on Sunday September 12, 2021 @07:52PM
(#28506291)
I do wonder though if the author had read Smith's first book. I always felt that The Wealth of Nations held true only if you accepted The Theory of Moral Sentiments as true.
However if you believe that people's own selfishness is stronger than their empathy to their fellow humans, then The Wealth of Nations arguments are on very shaky ground.
Still as you say, most people just cherry pick one sentence fragement from the 1000+ pages of the book to justify "free markets".
I would classify the article as historical revisionism. The conclusion "The concern with the welfare of the laboring poor is palpable throughout the book." means that the author at least read the whole of Adam Smith's book, which is more than what most internet commenters accomplish.