The Smith Conversations 4 of 5 – Smith on Power

On 9th March 1776, Adam Smith’s Wealth of Nations was published in London.

When he was writing, he was one of many brilliant people in Scotland whose arguments and debates shaped the progress of knowledge. He could test his ideas in conversations at supper clubs across Edinburgh.

In that spirit, the Library of Mistakes is holding five conversations between 9th and 13th March, all of them starting at 6.30 p.m. They’ll be on topics which mattered to Smith, but there’ll be no looking back. These conversations will be about why Smith’s concerns still matter. And they’ll look forward, exploring what we should be doing now.

Smith on Power

Putting the finishing touches to Wealth of Nations, Adam Smith travelled from his Kirkcaldy home to London to be certain that the political crisis in Britain’s North American colonies would lead to war.

Part of the success of the book came from his explanation of why the colonists might declare independence – and why they would prevail.

That was part of Smith’s broad critique of European imperial projects, in which economic power often suborned political authority, ensuring corruption. He saw excessive state power as shackling the creativity and imagination needed for thriving societies.

This panel will explore in what ways empire and protected monopolies are reasserting themselves in today's world. And also how to challenge any harmful effects of fused political and economy power.

Chair – Michelle Thomson MSP

Participants – Prof. Adam Dixon, Adam Smith Chair and Director of Panmure House
Roger Mullin, Director, Revive Campaign

Education - Friday 13th March

Info: Please ensure you arrive no later than 18:25 as latecomers may not be admitted once the event has commenced.

Know what’s Happening Next — before everyone else does.

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Host or Publisher Russell Napier