{"id":2318,"date":"2026-03-11T12:07:04","date_gmt":"2026-03-11T11:07:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.jurgschneider.com\/?p=2318"},"modified":"2026-03-11T17:18:28","modified_gmt":"2026-03-11T16:18:28","slug":"250-years-ago","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.jurgschneider.com\/de\/250-years-ago\/","title":{"rendered":"250 years ago\u2026"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>\u2026on March 9, 1776, \u201cAn Inquiry into the natu\u00adre and cau\u00adse of the Wealth of Nati\u00adons\u201d by Adam Smith was published. The first edi\u00adti\u00adon prin\u00adted in Lon\u00addon in 500 or 750 copies has beco\u00adme a cult and coll\u00adec\u00adtor object sel\u00adling for up to USD 200\u2019000. Never mind \u2013 the book remains a key text of poli\u00adti\u00adcal eco\u00adno\u00admy and is a fasci\u00adna\u00adting read.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">As could be expec\u00adted, the anni\u00adver\u00adsa\u00adry prompt\u00aded some <strong>opi\u00adni\u00adon pie\u00adces<\/strong> reflec\u00adting on the rele\u00advan\u00adce of \u201cWealth of Nati\u00adons\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Jason Fur\u00adman<\/strong> in the <strong>New York Times<\/strong> high\u00adlights the fun\u00adda\u00admen\u00adtal opti\u00admism of Smith\u2019s eco\u00adno\u00admic phi\u00adlo\u00adso\u00adphy. Smith was <em>\u201cdistrustful of struc\u00adtures that keep indi\u00advi\u00addu\u00adals from free\u00adly pur\u00adsuing their own inte\u00adrests\u201d <\/em>in the eco\u00adno\u00admic sphe\u00adre <em>\u2013 <\/em>and he show\u00aded \u201chow ordi\u00adna\u00adry peo\u00adp\u00adle, pur\u00adsuing ordi\u00adna\u00adry lives, could ste\u00adadi\u00adly make socie\u00adties richer, fai\u00adrer and freer \u2013 if powerful insti\u00adtu\u00adti\u00adons like govern\u00adments, guilds or lar\u00adge busi\u00adnesses got out of their way\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">This is why, accor\u00adding to Fur\u00adman, the \u201cWealth of Nati\u00adons\u201d pres\u00adents \u201csome of the clea\u00adrest gui\u00addance for this moment\u201d \u2013 one of its main inten\u00adti\u00adons was <strong>to widen the cir\u00adcle of eco\u00adno\u00admic actors par\u00adti\u00adci\u00adpa\u00adting in the eco\u00adno\u00admy<\/strong>, based on their respec\u00adti\u00adve self-inte\u00adrest. That is inde\u00aded rele\u00advant, and Fur\u00adman tries to posi\u00adti\u00adon Smith in some kind of midd\u00adle ground, uncon\u00advin\u00adced of the par\u00adti\u00adsan rea\u00addings by \u201clais\u00adsez-fai\u00adre\u201d con\u00adser\u00adva\u00adti\u00adves on the one hand and libe\u00adrals or the left, worried about \u201canti-social greed\u201d pro\u00adpel\u00adled by eco\u00adno\u00admic libe\u00adra\u00adlism, on the other.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Ser\u00adgio Aiol\u00adfi<\/strong> in the <strong>Neue Z\u00fcr\u00adcher Zei\u00adtung<\/strong> also points to Smith\u2019s inten\u00adti\u00adon \u2013 a poli\u00adcy objec\u00adti\u00adve in fact \u2013 to include a wider ran\u00adge of eco\u00adno\u00admic actors &nbsp;but he under\u00adlines the dif\u00adfe\u00adren\u00adces in histo\u00adri\u00adcal con\u00adtext to today. Smith put two <strong>fac\u00adtors at the core of eco\u00adno\u00admic pro\u00adspe\u00adri\u00adty<\/strong>: advan\u00adced <strong>divi\u00adsi\u00adon of labor<\/strong>, lea\u00adding to com\u00admo\u00addi\u00adty sur\u00adplus, and <strong>trade<\/strong>, both in tan\u00addem pro\u00addu\u00adcing more wealth for the who\u00adle socie\u00adty. Yet Smith did not arti\u00adcu\u00adla\u00adte a \u201ctheo\u00adry of growth\u201d fit for today\u2019s eco\u00adno\u00admic chal\u00adlenges, and fac\u00adtors such as sci\u00adence, tech\u00adno\u00adlo\u00adgy, inno\u00adva\u00adti\u00adon were not in his focus. The bak\u00ader, the but\u00adcher and the bre\u00adwer \u2013 the empi\u00adri\u00adcal stuff in Smith \u2013 were not expo\u00adsing nor nee\u00adding the con\u00adstant search for inno\u00adva\u00adti\u00adon that cha\u00adrac\u00adte\u00adri\u00adzes today\u2019s eco\u00adno\u00admic actors.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Fur\u00adman <\/strong>grasps a cur\u00adrent <strong>socie\u00adtal moment of anxie\u00adty<\/strong> facing de-indu\u00adstria\u00adlizati\u00adon, the rise of AI and, in gene\u00adral, inno\u00adva\u00adti\u00adon dri\u00adven by lar\u00adge up-front capi\u00adtal invest\u00adment. The\u00adse \u201cpowerful struc\u00adtures\u201d would have worried Smith pro\u00adba\u00adb\u00adly as much as did con\u00adtem\u00adpo\u00adra\u00adry <strong>French abso\u00adlu\u00adtism<\/strong> with its focus on levy\u00ading taxes, gold reser\u00adves, trade sur\u00adplu\u00adses, and the exch\u00adan\u00adge sphe\u00adre in gene\u00adral.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Mer\u00adcan\u00adti\u00adlism infor\u00admed much of eco\u00adno\u00admic thin\u00adking in France of that peri\u00adod when that nation\u2019s eco\u00adno\u00admy was alre\u00ada\u00addy in dire waters. Even\u00adtual\u00adly, eco\u00adno\u00admic fac\u00adtors were a major fac\u00adtor con\u00adtri\u00adbu\u00adting to the <strong>\u201cStor\u00adming of the Bastil\u00adle\u201d<\/strong> on July 14, 1789. Read <strong>Eric Vuil\u00adlard<\/strong>\u2019s 2016 novel \u201c14 Juil\u00adlet\u201d to get an idea how that was like!<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Refe\u00adren\u00adces:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Aiol\u00adfi, Ser\u00adgio. \u201cDie Leh\u00adren des Metz\u00adgers, des Brau\u00aders und des B\u00e4ckers\u201c. NZZ, March 9, 2021, p. 21.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Fur\u00adman, Jason. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2026\/03\/09\/opinion\/adam-smith-anniversary.html?unlocked_article_code=1.SVA.wCZu.02NDgpvKxgXL&amp;smid=nytcore-android-share\">\u201cThis Is the Moment Adam Smith Has Been Wai\u00adting For\u201d<\/a>. March 9, 2021.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Vuil\u00adlard, Eric (2016). 14 Juil\u00adlet. Arles: Actes Sud (Ger\u00adman trans\u00adla\u00adti\u00adon: Ber\u00adlin, 2019)<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>\u2026on March 9, 1776, \u201cAn Inquiry into the natu\u00adre and cau\u00adse of the Wealth of Nati\u00adons\u201d by Adam Smith was published. The first edi\u00adti\u00adon prin\u00adted in Lon\u00addon in 500 or 750 copies has beco\u00adme a cult and coll\u00adec\u00adtor object sel\u00adling for up to USD 200\u2019000. Never mind \u2013 the book remains a key text of poli\u00adti\u00adcal eco\u00adno\u00admy and is a fasci\u00adna\u00adting read.<\/p>","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":2321,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_seopress_titles_title":"250 years ago, Adam Smith's \"Wealth of Nations\" was published in London. 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