Adam Smith and the Credit Crunch

Adam Smith is often considered the ‘the father of capitalism’ but what would he have thought of the current credit crunch?

Next week sees a conference at Glasgow University to mark the 250th anniversary of Smith’s book, “Theory of Moral Sentiments”.

Ahead of this conference the BBC Scotland website has article by a leading academic of Smith, Professor Christopher Berry. In it he argues that Smith would have been a disappointed father at how modern capitalism has worked.

“For Smith the current crisis demonstrates not the intrinsic faults of the system but what happens when its moral dimension is removed or neglected.”