Saving Adam Smith

Adam Smith has come back to life...and he is upset

Adam Smith...You've heard of him. The Father of Modern Economics. Died in
1790...but two centuries later, Adam Smith's spirit is tortured by what he sees
on Earth. Tortured by the caricatures promoted in his name. Tortured that
we've forgotten the morality at the heart of his message on wealth. Tortured
enough to return to Earth...in the body of an immigrant mechanic in Virginia.

Is this madness? At first, doctoral student Richard Burns thinks so. But not
for long...

In Saving Adam Smith,Jonathan B. Wight summons Adam Smith back to life, in a
heart-pounding adventure ripped straight out of today's headlines. As the
suspense builds, Burns rediscovers Adam Smith's most profound insight about
markets: Selfishness is simply not enough. But will he - and Adam Smith -
survive long enough to share it?
"I thought Wight's book astonishingly good. The storytelling is as good as the
business best seller, The Goal, and the economics is better. A few more books
like this and economics will no longer be the obscure and dismal science it now
seems to the public."
--Deirdre McCloskey: Distinguished Professor, University of Illinois and
Tinbergen Professor, Rotterdam University
"SAVING ADAM SMITH uses a modern-day story to give a contemporary voice to the
"Father of Capitalism," who for too long has been maligned, misquoted and
misunderstood, in order torationalize an economic system that he himself would
never have promoted. I recommend this book to anyone who is studying, teaching
or engaged in business, as it holds the key for a moral blueprint from which
"economic integration" and trade can be implemented viaa socially responsible
approach to globalization. Anyone who talks about the "invisible hand" and
doesn't understand the moral context in which it operates has probably never
read this book, nor ever had the pleasure of a campfire conversation with Adam
Smith!"
Daniel J. Gertsacov, CEO, Forum on Business and Social Responsibility in the
Americas (Forum EMPRESA)
"We all live in Adam Smith's economic world, but as Jonathan Wight's wise and
witty story show us, it's not exactly the world that Smith had in mind. In his
lively tale, Wight brings Smith back to remind economics students and readers
of all stripe, that we are not here to serve the economy, the economy is here
to serve the needs of everyone in our society."
Joanne B. Ciulla, is Professor at the University of Richmond and author of "The
Working Life: The Promise and Betrayal of Modern Work."
"Wight's tale of adventure presents Smith's insights about self-interest in the
wider context of his social philosophy. The book challenges students and
economists to follow Smith in making room for justice and conscience in
economic choices."
David C. Smith President, Council for Ethics in Economics
A novel of markets and morals.
Adam Smith is back to set the record straight....
If Adam Smith returned to life, would he admire the global capitalist system
that honors him or would he be horrified?
The Wealth of Nations is Smiths most popular work, but Smith himself revered
his Theory of Moral Sentiments, an unread classic that searches for the
wellsprings of human happiness and virtue. There is virtue in markets, yet Adam
Smith would have been appalled by a world that holds wealth above human
connections, a world of markets unsupported by an underlying moral fabric ... a
world like ours.
And so it is in Jonathan Wights Saving Adam Smith, a wondrous imagining in
which Adam Smith stands before us today—generous, incisive, committed, and
unflinchingly honest. As Smith was a revelation to his contemporaries, so he is
to us: a man whose true message—obscured by centuries of misinformation and
caricature—has never been more vital for sustaining business and society.
Adam Smith has come back to life ... and is he upset....
Adam Smith ... Youve heard of him. The Father of Modern Economics. Died in 1790
... but two centuries later, Adam Smiths spirit is tortured by what it sees on
Earth. Tortured by the caricatures promoted in his name. Tortured that weve
forgotten the morality at the heart of his message on wealth. Tortured enough
to return to Earth ... in the body of an immigrant mechanic in Virginia.
Is this madness? At first, doctoral student Richard Burns thinks so. But not
for long ....
In Saving Adam Smith, Jonathan Wight summons Adam Smith back to life, in a
heart-pounding adventure ripped straight out of todays headlines. As the
suspense builds, Burns rediscovers Adam Smiths most profound insight about
markets: Selfishness is simply not enough. But will he—and Adam Smith—survive
long enough to share it?
"Wights book is astonishingly good. The storytelling is as good as the business
best seller, The Goal, and the economics is better. A few more books like this
and economics will no longer be the obscure and dismal science it now seems to
the public."
—Deirdre McCloskey,
Distinguished Professor of Economics, History, and English,
University of Illinois at Chicago
Jonathan B. Wightis an Associate Professor of Economics and International
Studies in the Robins School of Business, University of Richmond, where he has
won Outstanding Teaching and Outstanding Service Awards.
Preface.
Disclaimer.
WEALTH.
Adam Rising.
Higher and Deeper.
A Dangerous Business.
Will the Real Adam Smith Please Stand Up?
Contraband.
Self Interest Is Not Selfishness.
On the Road with Adam Smith.
Creating Wealth.
The Poor Mans Son.
The Lady Sings.
Wealth and Happiness.
TRANSFORMATION.
The Search for Profit.
Feelings Are Real.
Letter to Julia.
Another Gypsy Tale.
A Full House.
Justice.
Children of the Enlightenment.
VIRTUE.
The Spectator Within.
A Paradox.
A New Paradigm?
Once Again the Invisible Hand
Appeals to Higher Authority.
Saying Goodbye.
WorldChemm.
Postscript.
APPENDICES.
Timeline of Adam Smiths Life.
Source Notes.
PART I: Wealth.
PART II: Transformation.
PART III: Virtue.
Appendices.
A Guide to the Literature.
Adam Smiths Collected Works.
Biographies of Adam Smith.
Selected Scholarship on Adam Smith.
Economics As a Social, Philosophical, or Moral Science.
The New Paradigm Transformation in Business.
The Enlightenment.
A Guide for Instructors.
Acknowledgments.
About the Author.