IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/prs/caecpo/cep_0154-8344_1996_num_27_1_1196.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Adam Smith and the Political Economy of American Independance

Author

Listed:
  • Robert F. Hebert

Abstract

[fre] II est généralement admis que Smith plaide en faveur de l'indépendance américaine dans la Richesse des Nations. Les fondements explicites de l'argumentation de Smith n'ont pas cependant été examinés avec soin. Récemment Donald Winch a tenté de corriger l'équilibre entre les études de l'économie de Smith et celles de sa politique. Ceci conduit à poser les questions suivantes : Smith est-il favorable à l'indépendance des colonies américaines pour des raisons économiques ou pour des raisons politiques ? Comme Smith n'est guère explicite sur ce point, pouvons-nous nous référer à ce que l'on sait de la position générale de Smith tant dans le domaine politique économique ? . Cet article analyse et explique les fondements de l'argumentaire de Smith en faveur de l'indépendance américaine. Il adopte une position holiste pour chercher à intégrer les pensées économique et politique de Smith, et utilise un modèle coût-bénéfice pour expliquer la positon ultime de Smith à propos de l'indépendance américaine. [eng] It is generally recognized that Adam Smith argued in The Wealth of Nations in favor of independence for the American colonies. The explicit grounds on which Smith based this argument have not been held to close . scrutiny, however. In recent years, Donald Winch has attempted to right the . balance between studies of Smith's economics and his politics. Which raised . the following questions : Did Smith favor independence of the American . colonies on political or economic grounds ? Since Smith was not always . explicit in this regard, what particular grounds can be inferred from what is . generally known about Smith's politics and/or his economics ? . This paper analyzes and explains the grounds for Smith's argument in favor or American independence. It adopts a holistic approach that seeks to integrate Smith's political and economic thought, and utilizes a benefit-cost framework to explicate Smith's final position on the question of American independence.

Suggested Citation

  • Robert F. Hebert, 1996. "Adam Smith and the Political Economy of American Independance," Cahiers d'Économie Politique, Programme National Persée, vol. 27(1), pages 73-88.
    • Handle: RePEc:prs:caecpo:cep_0154-8344_1996_num_27_1_1196
    DOI: 10.3406/cep.1996.1196
    Note: DOI:10.3406/cep.1996.1196
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://doi.org/10.3406/cep.1996.1196
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.persee.fr/doc/cep_0154-8344_1996_num_27_1_1196
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.3406/cep.1996.1196?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Anderson, Gary M & Shughart, William F, II & Tollison, Robert D, 1985. "Adam Smith in the Customhouse," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 93(4), pages 740-759, August.
    2. George J. Stigler, 1971. "Smith's Travels on the Ship of State," History of Political Economy, Duke University Press, vol. 3(2), pages 265-277, Fall.
    3. E. G. West, 1976. "Adam Smith's Economics of Politics," History of Political Economy, Duke University Press, vol. 8(4), pages 515-539, Winter.
    4. Robert B. Ekelund, Jr. & Robert F. Hébert, 1978. "French Engineers, Welfare Economics, and Public Finance in the Nineteenth Century," History of Political Economy, Duke University Press, vol. 10(4), pages 636-668, Winter.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Petkantchin Valentin, 1996. "Adam Smith Et La Theorie Evolutionniste De L’Emergence Des Institutions," Journal des Economistes et des Etudes Humaines, De Gruyter, vol. 7(1), pages 1-30, March.
    2. Juan Carlos De Pablo, 2001. "Ideas, intereses y valores," CEMA Working Papers: Serie Documentos de Trabajo. 196, Universidad del CEMA.
    3. Mikko Arevuo, 2023. "Adam Smith's moral foundations of self‐interest and ethical social order," Economic Affairs, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 43(3), pages 372-387, October.
    4. Charles G. Leathers & J. Patrick Raines, 2011. "Natural religion and “moral capitalism”," International Journal of Social Economics, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 38(4), pages 330-340, March.
    5. Matthias P. Hühn & Claus Dierksmeier, 2016. "Will the Real A. Smith Please Stand Up!," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 136(1), pages 119-132, June.
    6. David Lipka, 2013. "The Max U Approach: Prudence Only, or Not Even Prudence? A Smithian Perspective," Econ Journal Watch, Econ Journal Watch, vol. 10(1), pages 2-14, January.
    7. Keith Tribe, 1999. "Adam Smith: Critical Theorist?," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 37(2), pages 609-632, June.
    8. James Buchanan, 1976. "Adam smith on public choice," Public Choice, Springer, vol. 25(1), pages 81-82, March.
    9. Daniel B. Klein, 2014. "Does Economics Need an Infusion of Religious or Quasi-Religious Formulations? A Symposium Prologue," Econ Journal Watch, Econ Journal Watch, vol. 11(2), pages 97-105, May.
    10. Alvey, James E., 2003. "Adam Smith'S View Of History: Consistent Or Paradoxical?," Discussion Papers 23710, Massey University, Department of Applied and International Economics.
    11. Isabelle Szmigin & Robert Rutherford, 2013. "Shared Value and the Impartial Spectator Test," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 114(1), pages 171-182, April.
    12. William F. Shughart, 2017. "A Personal Remembrance," Southern Economic Journal, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 83(3), pages 630-636, January.
    13. Hardin, Ashley E. & Bauman, Christopher W. & Mayer, David M., 2020. "Show me the … family: How photos of meaningful relationships reduce unethical behavior at work," Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, Elsevier, vol. 161(C), pages 93-108.
    14. Рубинштейн Александр Яковлевич, "undated". "Рациональность & Иррациональность: Эволюция Смыслов [Rationality & Irrationality: Evolution of the Senses]," Working papers a:pru175:ye:2017:1, Institute of Economics.
    15. Matthias P. Hühn, 2019. "Adam Smith’s Philosophy of Science: Economics as Moral Imagination," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 155(1), pages 1-15, March.
    16. David Bevan & Patricia Werhane, 2015. "The Inexorable Sociality of Commerce: The Individual and Others in Adam Smith," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 127(2), pages 327-335, March.
    17. repec:hal:journl:dumas-00910208 is not listed on IDEAS
    18. William R. Dougan, 2017. "Robert D. Tollison: an appreciation," Public Choice, Springer, vol. 171(1), pages 33-37, April.
    19. H. Spencer Banzhaf, 2010. "The Chicago School of Welfare Economics," Chapters, in: Ross B. Emmett (ed.), The Elgar Companion to the Chicago School of Economics, chapter 5, Edward Elgar Publishing.
    20. Avtonomov, V., 2017. "Constant or Variable Rationality As an Assumption of Economic Theory," Journal of the New Economic Association, New Economic Association, vol. 33(1), pages 142-146.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:prs:caecpo:cep_0154-8344_1996_num_27_1_1196. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Equipe PERSEE (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.persee.fr/collection/cep .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.