Schumpeter’s Assessment of Adam Smith and The Wealth of Nations: Why He Got It Wrong

Andreas Ortmann, David Baranovski and Benoît Walraevens
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David Baranovski: School of Economics, UNSW Business School, UNSW

No 2015-28, Discussion Papers from School of Economics, The University of New South Wales

Abstract: In his History of Economic Analysis, Joseph Schumpeter (Schumpeter 1954a) dismissed Adam Smith’s Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations (Smith 1976) in a blunt and ad hominem manner. We argue that Schumpeter’s assessment resulted from his failure to appreciate the rhetorical structure of Smith’s masterpiece, a failure largely due to Schumpeter not having access to student notes of Smith’s lectures on rhetoric that surfaced only after Schumpeter’s death.

Keywords: Adam Smith; The Wealth of Nations; rhetoric; rhetorical structure of The Wealth of Nations; Schumpeter; History of Economic Analysis (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: B10 B12 C70 C72 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 21 pages
Date: 2015-12
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-his and nep-hpe
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

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Journal Article: SCHUMPETER’S ASSESSMENT OF ADAM SMITH AND THE WEALTH OF NATIONS: WHY HE GOT IT WRONG (2019)
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