Author Archives: F. E. Guerra-Pujol

Correction (8/30): Our colleague and friend Alain Alcouffe has pointed out to us a possible error about the identity of “Dr Smith” in the Voltaire passage quoted below. In brief, the Dr Smith Voltaire is referring may not be Adam … Continue reading →

Adam Smith’s last days in Paris were marked by a terrible tragedy: the death of one of the pupils under his care, Hew Campbell Scott (pictured below), who was only 19 years old at the time. Below is an excerpt … Continue reading →

The celebrated Scottish moral economist Adam Smith was a professor at the University of Glasgow (then known as the College of Glasgow, pictured below) from 1751 until early January 1764, when he abruptly left the college in the middle of … Continue reading →

Today (25 August) is the 81st anniversary of the liberation of Paris from German occupation (see here and here) as well as my first day back in the classroom after the summer break and my 57th birthday!

I will resume my survey of “Adam Smith problems” in the next day or two; in the meantime, check out the hit song “My boo” by Ghostown DJs from the 1990s: Footnote: for me, “My boo” is the Tom Brady … Continue reading →

Below is an excerpt from Chapter 5 (“Das Oxford Problem”) of my forthcoming survey of open Adam Smith problems with Salim Rashid: “Why did Smith ditch Oxford in 1746? Did this decision have anything to do with John Wesley’s final … Continue reading →

Below is an excerpt from Chapter 4 (“Das Ambossproblem”) of my forthcoming survey of open Adam Smith problems with Salim Rashid (again, footnotes are below the fold): “… The Wealth of Nations and Theory of Moral Sentiments were not the … Continue reading →

Below is an excerpt from Chapter 3 (“TMS Problems”) of my forthcoming survey of open Adam Smith problems with Salim Rashid (footnotes are below the fold): “Was Smith a closet consequentialist? Next, we want to share our favorite open problem … Continue reading →