How Adam Smith Can Change Your Life

Author: Russ Roberts
Publisher: Portfolio
ISBN: 1591847958
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 274

Book Description
"How the insights of an 18th century economist can help us live better in the 21st century. Adam Smith became famous for The Wealth of Nations, but the Scottish economist also cared deeply about our moral choices and behavior--the subjects of his other brilliant book, The Theory of Moral Sentiments (1759). Now, economist Russ Roberts shows why Smith's neglected work might be the greatest self-help book you've never read. Roberts explores Smith's unique and fascinating approach to fundamental questions such as: - What is the deepest source of human satisfaction? - Why do we sometimes swing between selfishness and altruism? - What's the connection between morality and happiness? Drawing on current events, literature, history, and pop culture, Roberts offers an accessible and thought-provoking view of human behavior through the lenses of behavioral economics and philosophy"--

How Adam Smith Can Change Your Life

Author: Russ Roberts
Publisher: Penguin
ISBN: 0698139615
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 174

Book Description
A forgotten book by one of history's greatest thinkers reveals the surprising connections between happiness, virtue, fame, and fortune. Adam Smith may have become the patron saint of capitalism after he penned his most famous work, The Wealth of Nations. But few people know that when it came to the behavior of individuals—the way we perceive ourselves, the way we treat others, and the decisions we make in pursuit of happiness—the Scottish philosopher had just as much to say. He developed his ideas on human nature in an epic, sprawling work titled The Theory of Moral Sentiments. Most economists have never read it, and for most of his life, Russ Roberts was no exception. But when he finally picked up the book by the founder of his field, he realized he’d stumbled upon what might be the greatest self-help book that almost no one has read. In How Adam Smith Can Change Your Life, Roberts examines Smith’s forgotten masterpiece, and finds a treasure trove of timeless, practical wisdom. Smith’s insights into human nature are just as relevant today as they were three hundred years ago. What does it take to be truly happy? Should we pursue fame and fortune or the respect of our friends and family? How can we make the world a better place? Smith’s unexpected answers, framed within the rich context of current events, literature, history, and pop culture, are at once profound, counterintuitive, and highly entertaining.

How Adam Smith Can Change Your Life

Author: Russ Roberts
Publisher: Penguin UK
ISBN: 0241967880
Category : Self-Help
Languages : en
Pages : 272

Book Description
'A fun, fascinating, and original book that will challenge you to become a better version of yourself' Daniel H. Pink, author of Drive What does it take to be truly happy? Should we pursue fame and fortune or the respect of our friends and family? How can we make the world a better place? Two hundred and fifty years ago, Adam Smith addressed these fundamental questions in his life-long project, The Theory of Modern Sentiments. Dwarfed by the success of Smith's masterpiece The Wealth of Nations, The Theory of Modern Sentiments has been virtually forgotten. But when Russ Roberts finally picked up the epic tome, he realized he'd stumbled upon the greatest self-help book that almost no one has read. In How Adam Smith Can Change Your Life, Roberts reinvigorates the neglected classic to unearth a treasure trove of timeless, practical wisdom that cuts to the core of what it means to be human. It will challenge you to think about the way you treat others, the decisions you make in pursuit of happiness, and your place in the world.

The Theory of Moral Sentiments

Author: Adam Smith (économiste)
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 636

Book Description

The Life of Adam Smith

Author: Ian Simpson Ross
Publisher: OUP Oxford
ISBN: 0191613940
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 624

Book Description
This new edition of The Life of Adam Smith remains the only book to give a full account of Smith's life whilst also placing his work into the context of his life and times. Updated to include new scholarship which has recently come to light, this full-scale biography of Adam Smith examines the personality, career, and social and intellectual circumstances of the Scottish moral philosopher regarded as the founder of scientific economics, whose legacy of thought - most notably about the free market and the role of the state - concerns us all. Ian Simpson Ross draws on correspondence, archival documents, the reports of contemporaries, and the record of Smith's publications to fashion a lively account of Adam Smith as a man of letters, moralist, historian, and critic, as well as an economist. Supported with full scholarly apparatus for students and academics, the book also offers 20 halftone illustrations representing Smith and the world in which he lived.

Our Great Purpose

Author: Ryan Hanley
Publisher: Princeton University Press
ISBN: 0691216703
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 168

Book Description
Invaluable wisdom on living a good life from the founder of modern economics.

Who Cooked Adam Smith's Dinner?

Author: Katrine Marcal
Publisher: Simon and Schuster
ISBN: 1681771853
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 158

Book Description
How do you get your dinner? That is the basic question of economics. When economist and philosopher Adam Smith proclaimed that all our actions were motivated by self-interest, he used the example of the baker and the butcher as he laid the foundations for 'economic man,' arguing that the baker and butcher didn't give bread and meat out of the goodness of their hearts. It's an ironic point of view coming from a bachelor who lived with his mother for most of his life—a woman who cooked his dinner every night.The economic man has dominated our understanding of modern-day capitalism, with a focus on self-interest and the exclusion of all other motivations. Such a view point disregards the unpaid work of mothering, caring, cleaning and cooking. It insists that if women are paid less, then that's because their labor is worth less.A kind of femininst Freakonomics, Who Cooked Adam Smith’s Dinner? charts the myth of economic man—from its origins at Adam Smith's dinner table, its adaptation by the Chicago School, and its disastrous role in the 2008 Global Financial Crisis—in a witty and courageous dismantling of one of the biggest myths of our time.

Adam Smith: An Enlightened Life

Author: Nicholas T. Phillipson
Publisher: Yale University Press
ISBN: 0300174438
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 311

Book Description
Nicholas Phillipson's intellectual biography of Adam Smith shows that Smith saw himself as philosopher rather than an economist. Phillipson shows Smith's famous works were a part of a larger scheme to establish a "Science of Man," which was to encompass law, history, and aesthetics as well as economics and ethics. Phillipson explains Adam Smith's part in the rapidly changing intellectual and commercial cultures of Glasgow and Edinburgh at the time of the Scottish Enlightenment. Above all Phillipson explains how far Smith's ideas developed in dialog with his closest friend David Hume. --Publisher's description.

Adam Smith

Author: Ryan Hanley
Publisher: Princeton University Press
ISBN: 1400873487
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 597

Book Description
The essential guide to the life, thought, and legacy of Adam Smith Adam Smith (1723–90) is perhaps best known as one of the first champions of the free market and is widely regarded as the founding father of capitalism. From his ideas about the promise and pitfalls of globalization to his steadfast belief in the preservation of human dignity, his work is as relevant today as it was in the eighteenth century. Here, Ryan Hanley brings together some of the world's finest scholars from across a variety of disciplines to offer new perspectives on Smith's life, thought, and enduring legacy. Contributors provide succinct and accessible discussions of Smith's landmark works and the historical context in which he wrote them, the core concepts of Smith's social vision, and the lasting impact of Smith's ideas in both academia and the broader world. They reveal other sides of Smith beyond the familiar portrayal of him as the author of the invisible hand, emphasizing his deep interests in such fields as rhetoric, ethics, and jurisprudence. Smith emerges not just as a champion of free markets but also as a thinker whose unique perspective encompasses broader commitments to virtue, justice, equality, and freedom. An essential introduction to Adam Smith's life and work, this incisive and thought-provoking book features contributions from leading figures such as Nicholas Phillipson, Amartya Sen, and John C. Bogle. It demonstrates how Smith's timeless insights speak to contemporary concerns such as growth in the developing world and the future of free trade, and how his influence extends to fields ranging from literature and philosophy to religion and law.

Wild Problems

Author: Russ Roberts
Publisher: Penguin
ISBN: 0593418255
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 225

Book Description
From the host of EconTalk, a guide to decision-making when you can't crunch the numbers Algorithms and apps analyze data and tell you how to beat the traffic, what books to buy, what music to listen to, and even who to date—often with great results. But what do you do when you face the big decisions of life—the "wild problems" of who to marry, whether to have children, where to move, how to forge a life well-lived—that can’t be solved by measurement or calculation? In Wild Problems, beloved host of EconTalk Russ Roberts offers puzzled rationalists a way to address these wild problems. He suggests spending less time and energy on the path that promises the most happiness, and more time on figuring out who you actually want to be. He draws on the experience of great artists, writers, and scientists of the past who found creative ways to navigate life’s biggest questions. And he lays out strategies for reducing the fear and the loss of control that inevitably come when a wild problem requires a leap in the dark. Ultimately, Roberts asks us to see ourselves and our lives less as a problem to be solved than a mystery to be experienced. There's no right decision waiting to be uncovered by an app or rational analysis. Reality is harder than that and, perhaps, a little more interesting.