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Kompass

Thinkers and political figures

The Muir portrait of Adam Smith, shown in profile against a dark background.

Portrait: Unknown artist ("the Muir portrait"), via Wikimedia Commons (opens in a new tab) · Public domain

Adam Smith

Country
Scotland
Era
1723–1790
Tradition
Classical liberalism

Showed how decentralised exchange can coordinate an economy without central direction — while warning repeatedly about merchants combining against the public interest.

01

Documented positions

Documented positions come from the sources listed. Similarity is this project’s inference from those positions, and is a much weaker claim.

  • Division of labour and free exchange raise general prosperity (Wealth of Nations, Book I)
  • Warned that businessmen rarely meet without conspiring against the public
  • Supported public works, public education and regulation of banking
  • Argued for progressive elements in taxation: contribution in proportion to ability
02

Where it sits on each dimension

Wealth and inequality

72

Evidence: Well documented

The state in the economy

76

Evidence: Well documented

Personal liberty

74

Evidence: Documented

Nation and the world

30

Evidence: Documented

Crime and punishment

50

Evidence: Thinly documented

Dimensions left unscored, for want of evidence: Environment and growth, Tradition and change, Power and its limits, Religion and the state

Sources

  • Adam Smith, An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations · 1776
  • Adam Smith, The Theory of Moral Sentiments · 1759

Last verified: