Description
Book SynopsisTrade Review"Winner of the PROSE Award in Economics, Association of American Publishers"
"Intriguing. . . . Capacious. . . . Rich."
---Kim Phillips-Fein, New Republic"How did Adam Smith become as American as apple pie? Wisely skipping over the ‘mesmerizingly mundane’ life of the man, about whom we know little, Glory Liu offers a biography of Adam Smith the idea. Traversing three centuries of American thought in fluid prose, Ms. Liu finds traces of Smith in his inspiration of the founding generation, as grist for 19th-century debates over free trade, and as a celebrated apostle of the free market during the Cold War. Synthesizing a wave of recent scholarship on Smith, Ms. Liu elevates his
Theory of Moral Sentiments over his canonical
Wealth of Nations."
---Jennifer Burns, Wall Street Journal (Five Best Biographies of Economists)"A fascinating tour of American economic theory and debate from the late 18th century to the present. . . . Liu’s book is more than an examination of the twists and turns in American economic debate, for it also raises profound questions about economics as a discipline and terrain of debate."
---Colin Kidd, New Statesman"This is an excellent book."
---Branko Milanovic, Global Inequality and More 3.0"
[Adam Smith’s America] illuminates how the ways that readers approach a text become part of that text’s story. . . . A model for doing reception history well.
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---Rebecca Brenner Graham, Slate"Exemplary. . . . Liu presents Smith’s reception history as a unique window into what she calls the nation’s ‘politics of political economy.’ She is right. . . . Liu demonstrates just how malleable ideologically the interpretation of Smith has been over time."
---Jonathan Levy, Boston Review"[A] provocative analysis of Scottish moral philosopher Adam Smith’s influence on U.S. politics and business. . . . This is a rewarding reconsideration of an influential thinker." * Publishers Weekly *
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The iconic economist has become all things to all people over time, from Friedman-esque libertarian to anti-capitalist crusader. . . . 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.
" * Kirkus Reviews *
"Masterful."
---David Bahnsen, Religion & Liberty Online"Fascinating."
---Greg Olear, PREVAIL"
Lucid and compelling. . . . Adam Smith’s America is an impressively researched and deftly executed book.
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---Robin Douglass, Global Intellectual History"
Maybe it’s a moonshot to imagine lanyard-festooned Seattleite techies as a revolutionary vanguard, but, whatever your political visions: There’s a Smith for that.
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---Adam Willems, The Stranger"Outstanding work."
---Matteo Santarelli, Journal of Interdisciplinary History of Ideas"A detailed and well-researched account of the reception of Adam Smith in America."
---Maria Pia Paganelli, History of Economic Thought and Policy
