A bracing study not just of Smith’s ideas, but also of how scholars and activists have used (and misused) them.
The iconic economist has become all things to all people over time, from Friedman-esque libertarian to anti-capitalist crusader.
Adam Smith (1723-1790), writes Harvard fellow Liu, was one of the brightest stars of the Scottish Enlightenment, with broad interests that ranged from law and rhetoric to philosophy and economics. Today, scholars are more inclined to link his notion of “moral sentiments”—that is to say, the bonds of social contract that make people want to conduct themselves honestly in business—to developments that he would spell out in The Wealth of Nations. The “invisible hand” evoked therein is one complexity. Another involves what Smith deemed self-interest, which, Liu suggests, does not mean dog-eat-dog but instead something approaching the golden rule: Trade fairly and freely with me, and I will do so with you. Yet his name has been hijacked as “shorthand for the virtues of free markets and the vices of government intervention in economic affairs.” The Founding Fathers put Smith’s ideas to work in constructing federalism precisely because they “appealed to enlightenment sensibilities about how to understand the governing dynamics of man in society.” For reasons of his own, Thomas Jefferson seems to have preferred French economists such as Jean-Baptiste Say, while Smith’s near-contemporary Alexander Hamilton “borrowed Smith’s distinction between ‘dead’ and ‘live’ stock to illustrate how banks did more than circulate precious metals.” Liu argues that Smith’s largely laissez faire attitudes did not mean a complete lack of government intervention, but the Chicago school of economics distorted his message in order to prove that self-interest meant, above all else, the “narrow desire for wealth.” Even if Chicago, the Heritage Foundation, and other right-leaning entities have tried to seize him for their cause, Liu examines the possibility that he may be “closer to the values of the contemporary left”—thus are the many ambiguities in his work.
A bracing study not just of Smith’s ideas, but also of how scholars and activists have used (and misused) them.Pub Date: Nov. 29, 2022
ISBN: 978-0-691-20381-2
Page Count: 384
Publisher: Princeton Univ.
Review Posted Online: July 12, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2022
Worthwhile reference stuffed with facts and illustrations.
A compendium of charts, time lines, lists and illustrations to accompany study of the Bible.
This visually appealing resource provides a wide array of illustrative and textually concise references, beginning with three sets of charts covering the Bible as a whole, the Old Testament and the New Testament. These charts cover such topics as biblical weights and measures, feasts and holidays and the 12 disciples. Most of the charts use a variety of illustrative techniques to convey lessons and provide visual interest. A worthwhile example is “How We Got the Bible,” which provides a time line of translation history, comparisons of canons among faiths and portraits of important figures in biblical translation, such as Jerome and John Wycliffe. The book then presents a section of maps, followed by diagrams to conceptualize such structures as Noah’s Ark and Solomon’s Temple. Finally, a section on Christianity, cults and other religions describes key aspects of history and doctrine for certain Christian sects and other faith traditions. Overall, the authors take a traditionalist, conservative approach. For instance, they list Moses as the author of the Pentateuch (the first five books of the Hebrew Bible) without making mention of claims to the contrary. When comparing various Christian sects and world religions, the emphasis is on doctrine and orthodox theology. Some chapters, however, may not completely align with the needs of Catholic and Orthodox churches. But the authors’ leanings are muted enough and do not detract from the work’s usefulness. As a resource, it’s well organized, inviting and visually stimulating. Even the most seasoned reader will learn something while browsing.
Worthwhile reference stuffed with facts and illustrations.Pub Date: Sept. 1, 2005
ISBN: 978-1-5963-6022-8
Page Count: -
Publisher: N/A
Review Posted Online: May 23, 2010
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
This a book of earlier, philosophical essays concerned with the essential "absurdity" of life and the concept that- to overcome the strong tendency to suicide in every thoughtful man-one must accept life on its own terms with its values of revolt, liberty and passion. A dreary thesis- derived from and distorting the beliefs of the founders of existentialism, Jaspers, Heldegger and Kierkegaard, etc., the point of view seems peculiarly outmoded. It is based on the experience of war and the resistance, liberally laced with Andre Gide's excessive intellectualism. The younger existentialists such as Sartre and Camus, with their gift for the terse novel or intense drama, seem to have omitted from their philosophy all the deep religiosity which permeates the work of the great existentialist thinkers. This contributes to a basic lack of vitality in themselves, in these essays, and ten years after the war Camus seems unaware that the life force has healed old wounds... Largely for avant garde aesthetes and his special coterie.
Pub Date: Sept. 26, 1955
ISBN: 0679733736
Page Count: 228
Publisher: Knopf
Review Posted Online: Sept. 19, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 1955
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