Category Archives: Uncategorized

In my previous post, we saw the pivotal role that banks play in promoting economic growth and development. By issuing bank notes (paper money), discounting bills of exchange (check cashing), and providing cash accounts (lines of credit), banks facilitate trade … Continue reading →

Picking up where we last left off, Adam Smith surveys three important substitutes for money and metal currencies in the next part of Chapter 2 of Book II of The Wealth of Nations (specifically, Paras. 26-47): (a) bank notes, (b) … Continue reading →

To my friends “down under”, 🇦🇺 Happy Australia Day 🇦🇺! And to my friends in the twin cities of Minneapolis and Saint Paul, keep resisting and keep on fighting for our freedoms! The heavy-handed and lawless Gestapo tactics by masked … Continue reading →

Like a meteor flashing in the night sky, the Spice Girls, the best-selling girl group of all time (see here), were a bright but relatively brief phenomenon …

I concluded my discussion of Adam Smith’s theory of economic development in Chapter 1 of Book II of The Wealth of Nations (see my previous post) with this observation: “a poor or developing nation does not make progress by accumulating … Continue reading →

Adam Smith is often referred to as “the father of economics.” Although my colleague and friend (and co-author) Salim Rashid has questioned whether Smith is deserving of this title, [1] one thing I can say for certain is this: Smith … Continue reading →

After his lengthy digression on the value of silver, Adam Smith concludes Book I of The Wealth of Nations with an important and original observation about the three major classes or “orders of people” in any economic system — i.e. … Continue reading →

Adam Smith concludes Book I of The Wealth of Nations with a lengthy detour titled “Digression concerning the Variations in the Value of Silver during the Course of the Four last Centuries.” (WN, I.xi.e-p) Although it is tempting to just … Continue reading →

What is the relationship between rent, profit, and wages — the ostensible subject of the second half of Book 1 of The Wealth of Nations — or between rents and prices more generally? Adam Smith grapples with these difficult theoretical … Continue reading →

I will resume my series on The Wealth of Nations in my next post; in the meantime; check out this homage to another great economist: Thomas Sowell.