Thread by @MarkJCarney

Adam Smith published 2 magisterial works, The Theory of Moral Sentiments (1759) & An Inquiry into the Wealth of Nations (1776). The latter is better known, yet to understand the totality of Smith’s thinking, it should not be considered in isolation from its predecessor. 1/6

Smith’s goal in writing The Theory of Moral Sentiments was to explain the source of humankind’s ability to form moral judgements. He believed we form our norms (#values) as a matter of social psychology by wishing ‘to love and to be lovely’. 2/6

Smith was the 1st to put markets at the centre of economics, a move that fundamentally reoriented political economy. The Wealth of Nations is built on the exchanges in markets that are at the centre of commercial society—the 'invisible hand’. 3/6

Smith’s conception of markets must be seen in a broader social context. They may come into being because of private purpose but they are part of an evolving social order & must have a public value. 4/6

Although Smith emphasized that effective market functioning requires particular sentiments—trust, fairness & integrity—he didn’t recognize the paradox of how the act of valuing can change those sentiments. 5/6

Value(s), out today in 🇬🇧, examines how the valuations of markets affect the values of our society. Does the narrowness of our vision, the poverty of our perspective, mean we undervalue what matters to our collective wellbeing? I hope you enjoy the book. 6/6