Thorstein Veblen: The Man Behind Conspicuous Consumption

May I welcome you to the first of a few Adam Smith, Esq. portraits of notable economists?  My source for all in this series is the redoubtable Capitalism and its Critics: A History: From the Industrial Revolution to AI (John Cassidy, Farrar, Strauss and Giroux: New... read more +

Geography is [not] Destiny

A few weeks ago a law land journalist asked us if we had any insights to offer about the above-average rate of expansion of law firms in a particular US metro market—which itself had been expanding at an above-market rate in business investment and population. This...

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RIP Adam Smith

Born in Kirkcaldy, Scotland, 5 June1732.  Died in Edinburgh July 17, 1790 at age 67. Had he lived to today he would have been 293.

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The Rule of Law

I don’t know what role, if any, a deity might play in your life, but on my exceptionally short list of immanent beliefs worthy of worship is The Rule of Law: In a nutshell, “no one is above/all are equal before the law.” Its pedigree goes back in human history, way...

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