Category Archives: Uncategorized

Adam Smith’s negative invisible hand

Posted on July 7, 2026 by F. E. Guerra-Pujol

Nota bene: I credit my colleague and friend John Alcorn with the idea of a “negative invisible hand”. As I mentioned in my previous post, Part #11 of Adam Smith’s 1784 pamphlet provides many reasons why the herring bounty is … Continue reading →

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The herring subsidy scam

Posted on July 6, 2026 by F. E. Guerra-Pujol

Happy birthday, Adela! (Also, my blog is 13 years old today, 6 July!) As I mentioned at the end of my previous Adam Smith post (see here), Smith devotes Part #11 (pp. 13-22) of his 1784 pamphlet to the herring … Continue reading →

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Sunday song: Koko

Posted on July 5, 2026 by F. E. Guerra-Pujol

🇨🇷 Greetings from under the volcano in La Fortuna, Costa Rica! 🇨🇷 According to Spotify (see here), this sexy song, by the 27-year-old Puerto Rican singer and songwriter Omar Courtz, is one of the most downloaded tunes in the Central … Continue reading →

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Adam Smith, the Don Quijote of economics?

Posted on July 4, 2026 by F. E. Guerra-Pujol

To my North American readers, happy 4th of July! In my previous post, we saw Adam Smith’s scathing critique of farm subsidies. (This critique appears in Parts #8 and #9 (pp. 10-12) of his 1784 pamphlet.) As it happens, the … Continue reading →

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Adam Smith’s slam dunk critique of farm subsidies

Posted on July 3, 2026 by F. E. Guerra-Pujol

Nota bene: Today’s post contains another installment of my multi-part review of Adam Smith’s 1784 pamphlet Additions and Corrections to the First and Second Editions of Dr. Adam Smith’s Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations. … Continue reading →

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Tobacco, textiles, and wine: the immortal Adam Smith

Posted on July 2, 2026 by F. E. Guerra-Pujol

Nota bene: This is the fifth installment of my multi-part review of Adam Smith’s 1784 pamphlet Additions and Corrections to the First and Second Editions of Dr. Adam Smith’s Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations. … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged adam-smith, american-revolution, Economics, History, Politics, Trade, wine | 3 Comments

France, England, and the immortal Adam Smith

Posted on July 1, 2026 by F. E. Guerra-Pujol

Nota bene: Today’s post contains the fourth installment of my multi-part review of Adam Smith’s 79-page pamphlet Additions and Corrections to the First and Second Editions of Dr. Adam Smith’s Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged adam-smith, Economics, History, Politics, Trade, War | 2 Comments

Revisiting another Adam Smith problem

Posted on June 30, 2026 by F. E. Guerra-Pujol

Nota bene: Today’s post contains the third installment of my multi-part review of Adam Smith’s 1784 pamphlet Additions and Corrections to the First and Second Editions of Dr. Adam Smith’s Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged adam-smith, Economics, History, Philosophy, Politics | 2 Comments

Adam Smith on wealth, power, and the self-correcting nature of markets

Posted on June 29, 2026 by F. E. Guerra-Pujol

Last week (see here and here), I mentioned how Adam Smith had published a 79-page pamphlet in 1784 containing 13 separate “additions and corrections” to the first two editions of The Wealth of Nations (1776, 1778). Of these 13 additions/inserts, … Continue reading →