How Adam Smith would fix capitalism

Monday 9 March 2026 is the 250th anniversary of the publication of Adam Smith’s Enlightenment masterpiece, The Wealth of Nations.

Often misread as a prophet of laissez-faire, the father of modern economics would have radical remedies for the 21st century.

Smith was not an advocate of laissez-faire; the phrase “invisible hand” occurs just once in The Wealth of Nations; and he did not oppose all state interventions in markets. 

Indeed, he positively advocates a range of them, from specific forms of taxation to regulation of the banks.

Jesse Norman Financial Times 22 June 2018

https://www.ft.com/content/6795a1a0-7476-11e8-b6ad-3823e4384287