Stephen Dubner

Hey there, it's Stephen Dubner.

If you've been keeping up with your Freakonomics Radio feed, you've already heard an episode we made about a new oratorio by David Lang called Wealth of Nations, which was inspired by the book Wealth of Nations by Adam Smith.

Smith was a Scottish philosopher who today is thought of as the first modern economist.

Wealth of Nations was published in 1776, and it's never really left the scene.

A few years ago, we made a three-part series called In Search of the Real Adam Smith.

Today, we are replaying for you one of those episodes.

It's called Was Adam Smith Really a Right Winger?

Facts and figures have been updated.

I hope you enjoy.

What do you think Adam Smith would make of the UK economy today?

And we are in London with him.

Today on Freakonomics Radio, we are trying to figure out how Adam Smith, a moral philosopher from 18th century Scotland, became the patron saint of free market capitalism, even into the 21st century.

Did Smith, for instance, really see governments as tyrannical?

We'll find out when and where the modern view of Smith gained traction.

Whether you are a left Smithian, a right Smithian, or even if you've never heard of him, it's fair to say that we are all Smithians today.

In Search of the Real, Adam Smith starts now.

In 1759, Adam Smith published his first book, The Theory of Moral Sentiments.

He was in his mid-30s, and he'd spent the previous several years teaching moral philosophy at the University of Glasgow.

But it wasn't just the beauty of Smith's writing that won praise.

It was his humanity, his sympathy.