Adam Smith Week

Every spring semester we organize Adam Smith Week. Through a variety of events, Adam Smith Week is a way for the Center to create awareness and explore important topics in political economy, entrepreneurship, and the role of government. The weeklong event has a series of educational opportunities for students, faculty, and the community to engage in the discussion on Adam Smith and his economic philosophy.

Adam Smith is one of the most recognizable figures in economics, and his contributions to the fields of philosophy and economics are still relevant today. Smith explained that the wealth of nations was created through changes in the division of labor, the growth of firms and industries. Entrepreneurship was essential to the division of labor and, hence, to economic growth.

Who is Adam Smith?

Adam Smith’s 1776 book, An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations, is one of the most important works in economics. As Smith endeavors to explain, the fundamental idea of the market's "invisible hand" is such that individuals' self-interest often promotes society's interests. Illustrating this concept is the following passage:

“It is not from the benevolence of the butcher the brewer, or the baker that we expect our dinner, but from their regard to their own interest. We address ourselves, not to their humanity, but to their self-love, and never talk to them of our own necessities, but of their advantages.”

Speakers for Adam Smith Week 2026

 
Dr. Peter Boettke
Distinguished University Professor of Economics and Philosophy
George Mason University

Matt Ridley
Author

Romina Boccia
Director of Budget and Entitlement Policy
The Cato Institute

Dr. Bryan Cutsinger
Assistant Professor of Economics
Florida Atlantic University