Smith v. Government

Dare to channel Adam Smith in your latest criticism of modern capitalism? Better read Peter Foster’s piece in The Walrus, of all places. The article, which to my knowledge has not been published online to date, ends thus:

[I]t was only last year, after two centuries of neglect, that a significant statue of Adam Smith was finally raised in Edinburgh, and it went up by private subscription. At the Kirkcaldy museum, meanwhile, there is another quote, from an essay collection titled “A Hotbed of Genius.” “Smith,” it says, “is often misrepresented as an uncritical advocate of a free economy. In fact, he believed that the government should be responsible for major public works … he warned against the evils of industrialization.”

While it stresses Smith’s qualms about free markets and industrialization, this government-run museum makes no reference to his much greater reservations about government.

Quoting Joseph Schumpeter, Friedrich Hayek, Niall Ferguson, and even Michael Lewis, Foster keeps the reader informed on the basics of free-market thinking, and reminds us that to go back to Smith means to go back to basics. This would include the avoidance of excessive government intervention every time there is a downturn.

To quote the great man himself, we are to watch out for “that insidious and crafty animal, vulgarly called a statesman or politician, whose councils are directed by the momentary fluctuations of affairs.”

Bravo, Mr. Smith. Bravo.