On the 250th anniversary of The Wealth of Nations, host Paul Mueller sits down with economists Dan Klein, professor at George Mason University and chief editor of Econ Journal Watch, and Eric Matson, senior research fellow at the Mercatus Center and lecturer at Catholic University, to explore Adam Smith’s enduring impact.
They discuss Smith as both an academic and a moral authority, the lessons of The Wealth of Nations for modern economics and public policy, the invisible hand, the limits of government intervention, and why Smith’s insights on markets, human behavior, and social coordination still matter today.
Along the way, the thinkers break down the real Adam Smith—not the caricature or “free-market fundamentalist” often invoked in modern debates, but a nuanced and deeply thoughtful observer of human nature and human action.