What Adam Smith Knew ─ Moral Lessons on Capitalism from Its Greatest Champions and Fiercest Opponents

What exactly is capitalism, and why do its advocates support it? What are the central objections raised to capitalism? Are there moral reasons to support capitalism, or to oppose it? This book contains excerpts from seminal historical and contemporary readings exploring the nature, purpose, and effects of capitalism, from the most important expositors themselves. In this time of globalization and economic turbulence, its questions could not be more timely, or important. If you want to develop an informed judgment about whether markets and morality mix, start here.

James R. Otteson is Executive Director of the BB&T Center for the Study of Capitalism, and Teaching Professor of Political Economy, at Wake Forest University. He received his BA from Notre Dame and his PhD from the University of Chicago. He specializes in political economy, the history of economic thought, political philosophy, and the history of ethics. His published works include Adam Smith’s Marketplace of Life (Cambridge, 2002) and Actual Ethics (Cambridge, 2006), the latter of which won the 2007 Templeton Enterprise Award. His most recent book is Adam Smith (Bloomsbury, 2013). His next book, The End of Socialism, will be published by Cambridge University Press in 2014.