Apr 20, 2026 · 1 hr 4 min · 22 segments
What can Adam Smith teach us today? In this conversation between Ross Levine of Stanford's Hoover Institution and EconTalk's Russ Roberts, Smith emerges as a penetrating psychologist who understood…
Russ RobertsHostNo entities detected.
So the first one, uh, begins this way, and this will give listeners the flavor of, um, of the project.
You enjoy conveniences and comforts that the barons and princes of my time could not have imagined.
And yet, you track your sleep as if peace could be graphed, chase productivity as if rest were a moral failing, and wake to voices urging you to optimize every hour and maximize every potential, yet seldom pause to ask why." So I wanna start with that.
I think-- And by the way, what's nice about this writing, your writing, is that there, there are words that are your own, and they're written in a, I would say, a Smithian style like I just, like I just read, but you also try to quote Smith directly verbatim as much as possible.
... that is a, um, that's a shtick that can be annoying, uh, but it's not in your case.
W-what is Smith asking here? What is he saying to a modern from his perspective of the eighteenth century? What's he, what's he asking us?
So the first one, uh, begins this way, and this will give listeners the flavor of, um, of the project.
You enjoy conveniences and comforts that the barons and princes of my time could not have imagined.
And yet, you track your sleep as if peace could be graphed, chase productivity as if rest were a moral failing, and wake to voices urging you to optimize every hour and maximize every potential, yet seldom pause to ask why." So I wanna start with that.
I think-- And by the way, what's nice about this writing, your writing, is that there, there are words that are your own, and they're written in a, I would say, a Smithian style like I just, like I just read, but you also try to quote Smith directly verbatim as much as possible.
... that is a, um, that's a shtick that can be annoying, uh, but it's not in your case.
W-what is Smith asking here? What is he saying to a modern from his perspective of the eighteenth century? What's he, what's he asking us?
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3 of 7
Admiring Wrong People Endangers Freedom
Let’s challenge who we celebrate now.
Smith’s Four Warnings
Here’s the case against glamour-first admiration.
Why We Really Work
What truly drives our hard work?
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