Description:
As America marks the 250th anniversary of independence, this essential and thought-provoking essay collection--edited by Yuval Levin with contributions from leading historians and economists--explores capitalism's foundational role in the American Revolution, examining Adam Smith's influence on Jefferson and Hamilton, tax resistance, economic inequality, and the enduring debate over markets, freedom, and the American constitutional order.
Featuring original essays by Jay Cost, Clement Fatovic, Deirdre Nansen McCloskey, Richard A. Epstein, and Christopher DeMuth.
The year 2026 marks the 250th anniversary of American independence, yet the founding is controversial now in ways it has not been in decades. In honor of this significant anniversary, the American Enterprise Institute offers a major intellectual and educational project to reintroduce Americans to the unique value of their national inheritance.
In the second volume of this series, leading historians, political scientists, and economists analyze the role that the market economy played in the creation of the United States. Alongside the American Declaration of Independence, 1776 marked the publication of Adam Smith's The Wealth of Nations. This work shaped the political and economic thought of many leaders in the American Revolution, including those who would go on to join rival political parties, such as Thomas Jefferson and Alexander Hamilton. At the same time, the founders evinced concerns over what economic inequality might mean for political freedom in the fledgling republic.
Understanding how the founding generation viewed the promises and perils of capitalism in securing the future of the United States can shed light on modern debates over capitalism's role in American society.
Brief description: Richard A. Epstein is the inaugural Laurence A. Tisch Professor of Law at the New York University School of Law, where he serves as a director of the Classical Liberal Institute, which he helped found in 2013. He has served as the Peter and Kirstin Bedford Senior Fellow at the Hoover Institution since 2000.