Adam Smith thrived at the University of Glasgow studying moral philosophy under Francis Hutchinson. Upon graduation, he won a scholarship to Bailleel College at Oxford University in England. But Smith disliked almost everything about Oxford, especially the professors whom he found both haughty and lazy. He also disliked Oxford because he was made to feel like a country bumpkin.
How did an affable 18th-century “moral philosopher” become the patron saint of cutthroat capitalism? Does “the invisible hand” mean what everyone thinks it does? We travel to Smith’s hometown in Scotland to uncover the man behind the myth. (Part 1 of a series.)