Markets are efficient at organizing themselves through the price mechanism, so government intervention is unnecessary and can create inefficiencies. The Friedman-Stigler interpretation treats the market as a moral entity, prioritizing certain values over equity, universalism, and democracy.
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.”)