Interesting piece. I would include that Smith knew that the source of wealth for Glasgow was not the invisible hand, but the slave based tobacco trade. He met with the "tobacco lords" and enjoyed the wealth they brought to Glasgow, but he remained silent about this source of wealth.
A few things to remember about Adam Smith: he was a philosopher trying understand the relatively new concept of commerce, as the British Isles evolved beyond village labor (think plantation labor). His underlying assumption (from Moral Sentiments) for economic choices was that people sought to be liked. The first factories were just being formed. He was 100 years from the birth of corporations--and he loathed monopoly, as in the British West India Co. I do not think he could have envisioned the soulless landscape capitalism has woven.
Interesting piece. I would include that Smith knew that the source of wealth for Glasgow was not the invisible hand, but the slave based tobacco trade. He met with the "tobacco lords" and enjoyed the wealth they brought to Glasgow, but he remained silent about this source of wealth.
A few things to remember about Adam Smith: he was a philosopher trying understand the relatively new concept of commerce, as the British Isles evolved beyond village labor (think plantation labor). His underlying assumption (from Moral Sentiments) for economic choices was that people sought to be liked. The first factories were just being formed. He was 100 years from the birth of corporations--and he loathed monopoly, as in the British West India Co. I do not think he could have envisioned the soulless landscape capitalism has woven.