Banks in bank-based financial systems tend to engage in long-term lending that requires substantial own capital to guarantee solvency. In market-based systems, in contrast, they tend to undertake short-term lending that requires adequate reserves to guarantee liquidity. Theoretical support for...

This paper describes an assignment where students evaluate a current industry using Adam Smith's arguments against monopoly power. Using Smith's arguments, students write a paper describing whether they believe a current industry, such as the US cellular phone carrier industry, suffers from the...

Models are representations of reality. They simplify and ignore many complexities in order to focus on certain aspects. With constant and repeated use, theorists sometimes confuse the model with reality. This leads to many types of errors. In this article, we argue that the metaphor of the...

We suggest, in this paper, the investigation of Adam Smith and Francis Ysidro Edgeworth's utilitarianism conceptions. Both conceptions were used in order to develop Economics as science. However, they presented the limitations of the economic theory, which boundaries recommended.

This article questions Adam Smith’s commitment to the notion of a beneficent Deity, or “all-perfect Being,” whose purpose is to promote the “real happiness” of humankind. It is argued that Smith conceals his true position in The Theory of Moral Sentiments by emphasizing the deceptive...

Analyzing the rhetorical structure of The Wealth of Nations (Smith WN) and its context, we make the case for the central importance of its Book V, "Of the Revenue of the Sovereign or Commonwealth”, which tends to be neglected in most accounts of Smith’s oeuvre (even, most recently,...

The British North American colonies were the first western economies to rely on legislative-issued fiat paper monies as their principal internal media of exchange. This system arose piecemeal. It was monetary experimentation on a grand scale. In the absence of banks and treasuries that exchanged...

Drawing from a broad range of sources, we define and discuss the two primary ways of contemplating issues related to environmental economics, namely, interventionism and libertarianism. We then interpret a cellular automaton as a model that allows for either approach, as well as anarchy, and...

In his Wealth of Nations (1776) Adam Smith created an agenda for the study of the economy that is reflected in the structure of modern economics. This paper describes Smith’s contributions to four central areas of economic theory: The theory of price formation, the relationship between market...

The sciences tell us that fears are physical feelings and mental emotions that play a key role in any society. Not many issues related to fear are explored by economists today. The aim of this paper is to go backwards through the history of economic thought, and examine if and how Adam Smith...