Adam Smith’s The Wealth of Nations – 250 years

On 9 March 2026, we mark exactly 250 years since Adam Smith’s The Wealth of Nations was published in London. The book beautifully illuminated how prosperity is created “by an invisible hand” – through specialization, exchange, competition, and the institutions that allow ordinary people to coordinate their activities.

Was it a coincidence that the modern era of sustained economic progress began to gather pace in the period that followed? Smith was not the first advocate of free enterprise. But he was the most impactful. In Adam Smith, free enterprise had not merely an exponent but a moral authority. Smith’s framework – his spirit – remains a wise and wholesome guide to modern betterment – and a powerful antidote to today’s reflex for control, protectionism, and political allocation. Join us for an appreciation of Adam Smith’s The Wealth of Nations and discussion about its relevance today.

Date: March 9th

Time: 16.30 – 18.00 (mingle afterwards)

Place: Citykonferensen Ingenjörshuset, Malmskillnadsgatan 46, Stockholm 

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Speakers: 

Prof. Daniel Klein, George Mason University  

Adam Smith Moral Authority of ‘76 

Johan Norberg, Cato Institute

Adam Smith and the Liberal Arc in Sweden 

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About the speakers: 

Daniel Klein is Professor of Economics and JIN Chair at the Mercatus Center at George Mason University, where he leads a program in Adam Smith. His books include Smithian Essays, The Spirit of Smithian Laws, Central Notions of Smithian Liberalism, and Smithian Morals.

Johan Norberg is an author, lecturer and documentary filmmaker. He has written books on a broad range of topics, including global economics and popular science. He has achieved a worldwide readership with books such as Progress and Open, translated into more than 30 languages.

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“All systems either of preference or of restraint, therefore, being thus completely taken away, the obvious and simple system of natural liberty establishes itself of its own accord. Every man, as long as he does not violate the laws of justice, is left perfectly free to pursue his own interest his own way, and to bring both his industry and capital into competition with those of any other man, or order of men. The sovereign is completely discharged from a duty, in the attempting to perform which he must always be exposed to innumerable delusions, and for the proper performance of which no human wisdom or knowledge could ever be sufficient; the duty of superintending the industry of private people, and of directing it towards the employments most suitable to the interest of the society.” 

– Adam Smith, The Wealth of Nations