In 1759, Adam Smith published his first book The Theory of Moral Sentiments. There's raging debate in Smith's scholarship among people who are sometimes called left Smithians and right Smithians. We'll find out when and where the modern view of Smith gained traction. And we'll hear how this interpretation of Smith is often quite wrong.
Economists and politicians have turned him into a mascot for free-market ideology. Some on the left say the right has badly misread him. Prepare for a very Smithy tug of war. (Part 2 of “In Search of the Real Adam Smith.”)