For over two centuries, Adam Smith has been celebrated as a founding figure of modern economics; The Wealth of Nations, first published in 1776, is still described as the first comprehensive system of political economy. Yet, from an Austrian perspective, that legacy is not a clean inheritance but a poisoned one.
[This article is excerpted from chapter 3 of Classical Liberalism and the Austrian School. Footnote numbering differs from the original.]
Editor’s Note: Murray Rothbard’s new masterwork, The Progressive Era, is now available for purchase. Judge Napolitano’s preface below speaks to why the Progressive Era is so key to our understanding of modern America. This is the first of many selections from the book we will be offering at mises.org in the future.
[Foreword to Mark Thornton’s new book The Skyscraper Curse: And How Austrian Economists Predicted Every Major Economic Crisis of the Last Century (Auburn, AL: Mises Institute, 2018).]
No matter how many times Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren vowed to stand by their man, the Graham Platner Good Ship Socialism always seemed to be moments away from springing a leak and sinking like a dilapidated oyster boat. And, as the poll numbers for Sen. Susan Collins began to inch closer to Platner’s, cutting into his once-big lead, it was inevitable that the Democrats would find a way to force him out and to do that, the Democrats returned to their standard play: find someone who would make a sexual assault accusation.
