An insight into the Philosopher Economist who defined the Moral Foundation for the Free Market Economy.
For today's critics selfishness has been replaced by reference to greed and if that is not sufficiently colourful - "crass greed". "Greed is good" is even said to be the creed of the proponents of free markets and in today's universal media distribution this has gained widespread currency. Such negative perceptions of the market economy have the potential to undermine its moral foundation and therefore its general acceptance. However Smith shows a free market economy does not depend on greed; indeed, Smith's central notion of self-interest is quite different to greed.
The Adam Smith Institute is the UK’s leading libertarian think tank...