St. Maximos' Hut

Russell Roberts, the only economist who manages to write high quality fiction that incorporates economics (at least as far as I know), has some interesting discussion (including comments from William Polley) on Smith's views on prudence at Cafe Hayek.

I need to reread The Wealth of Nations, which sits on my bedside table causing me guilt feelings. Roberts and Polley remind me that I need to reread The Theory of Moral Sentiments as well.

Ignorance of Smith's other major work leads people to think that economics is only about greed, self-interest, and rational maximization. As a result, many intelligent people who would be quite capable of becoming economically literate are turned off to economics because they see it as promoting a "greed is good" mentality that doesn't square with their world view. Unfortunately, this perception is so well embedded in the pop culture view of economics and economists that it may be very difficult to reverse.

And that reminds me that I need to read James Otteson's Adam Smith's Marketplace of Life (review here) (from EH.NET - a great resource that our own Rob Whaples is involved with) and here (from The Independent Review, a magazine everyone should subscribe to). Jim is a great guy and a great scholar and I should have read his book long before now.

So many many books and so little time.

Update: I had listed Russ Roberts' blog as Marginal Revolution; it is, of course, Cafe Hayek. Sorry for the error!