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Full-Text Articles in Economics
Fair And Impartial Spectators In Experimental Economic Behavior, Vernon L. Smith, Bart J. Wilson
Fair And Impartial Spectators In Experimental Economic Behavior, Vernon L. Smith, Bart J. Wilson
Economics Faculty Articles and Research
Our primary purpose in this article is to draw upon the literature of classical liberal economy to show how it informs and is informed by the results from experimental economics. Adam Smith's first great book, The Theory of Moral Sentiments, serves as our chief source of insights for understanding and interpreting modern laboratory research in terms of the conventions that govern human conduct in personal exchange.~ At the same time, we wish to demonstrate how today's economic experiments elucidate a reading of Adam Smith.
"Introduction" To "Symposium: The Fate Of Anglo-American Capitalism", Sandra J. Peart
"Introduction" To "Symposium: The Fate Of Anglo-American Capitalism", Sandra J. Peart
Jepson School of Leadership Studies articles, book chapters and other publications
The call for papers in this special issue asked whether there is a future for the robust sort of capitalism favoured by Adam Smith or whether we have reached a limit to Anglo-American capitalism as the engine of human betterment. Contemporary events loomed large late in 2008 and it seemed appropriate to consider whether Anglo-American capitalism was passing away. We were particularly interested in contributions that viewed current economic events through a lens informed by Smith's teaching on institutions, money and economic growth.
Adam Smith And The Place Of Faction, Sandra J. Peart, David M. Levy
Adam Smith And The Place Of Faction, Sandra J. Peart, David M. Levy
Jepson School of Leadership Studies articles, book chapters and other publications
Our approach to faction focuses on Smith’s account of the interrelation between social distance and small group cohesion. We make the case that social distance is not necessarily constant in Smith’s system. As social distance shrinks, sympathy becomes more habitual and the affection we have for others increases (Peart and Levy, 2005b). Factions reduce social distance, and this gives them power and makes them dangerous. By modifying social distance, they created a disconnect between behavior of which we approve (cooperation) and consequences of which we disapprove. It is in this context that we find virtuous behavior with deleterious consequences. The …
Adam Smith And Poverty, Jonathan B. Wight
Adam Smith And Poverty, Jonathan B. Wight
English Faculty Publications
Can we end poverty in America? Does economic theory offer a solution? Humility would be a good starting place, because systemic problems like generational poverty rarely stem from single causes. Putting the broken pieces together is difficult when some edges are sharp, some are shattered, and others missing. This essay draws on insights from Adam Smith in order to examine the problem of poverty. It focuses on a case study involving Serena Robins (the real names have been altered).
Attitudes Toward Race, Hierarchy And Transformation In The 19th Century, Sandra J. Peart, David M. Levy
Attitudes Toward Race, Hierarchy And Transformation In The 19th Century, Sandra J. Peart, David M. Levy
Jepson School of Leadership Studies articles, book chapters and other publications
Using the debates between Classical political economists and their critics as our lens, this paper examines the question of whether we're the same or different. Starting with Adam Smith, Classical economics presumed that humans are the same in their capacity for language and trade ; observed differences were then explained by incentives, luck and history, and it is the "vanity of the philosopher" incorrectly to conclude otherwise. Such "analytical egalitarianism" was overthrown sometime after 1850 , when notions of race and hierarchy came to infect social analysis as a result of attacks on homogeneity by the Victorian Sages (including Thomas …
A Little Adam Smith Is A Dangerous Thing, Jonathan B. Wight
A Little Adam Smith Is A Dangerous Thing, Jonathan B. Wight
Economics Faculty Publications
Adam Smith was trying to counter medieval church theology, which held that any self-interested behavior was sinful and detrimental. Smith countered that self-interest could yield valuable outcomes for society as people pursued specialization and market trade. Much later these quotes would be used to justify the greedy and grasping personae of homo economicus, illustrating how a little Adam Smith can prove to be a dangerous thing. For example, Max Lerner in 1937 would say that Adam Smith "sanctified predatory impulses" and "gave a new dignity to greed." By the 1980s the movie Wall Street has the financial tycoon Gordon …
6. Classical Economics From Smith To Malthus, Robert L. Bloom, Basil L. Crapster, Harold L. Dunkelberger, Charles H. Glatfelter, Richard T. Mara, Norman E. Richardson, W. Richard Schubart
6. Classical Economics From Smith To Malthus, Robert L. Bloom, Basil L. Crapster, Harold L. Dunkelberger, Charles H. Glatfelter, Richard T. Mara, Norman E. Richardson, W. Richard Schubart
Section XIV: The Industrial Revolution, Classical Economics, and Economic Liberalism
In 1776, several years after his good friend James Watt had obtained the first patent covering the steam engine and several years before the process for making wrought iron was devised, Adam Smith (1723-1790), a retired professor of moral philosophy at the University of Glasgow, published An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations. This book was immediately popular. It went through five editions in English and was translated into four foreign languages during its author's lifetime, and has stimulated and provoked Western economic thought and debate down to our own time. It won for …