Alexander Hamilton and the Politics of Impatience (From Balancing Trade to a Balanced History): Part III

Filed Under: Balance of Trade, Continentalist Essays, Mercantilism, Sir James Steuart, Sketch of the Finances of the United States, Spontaneous Order, Unintended Consequences of Exchange, Wealth of Nations

Adam Smith’s Wealth of Nations was published the same year as the Declaration of Independence, and Hamilton was right to perceive a growing appreciation of its basic message among his countrymen. Smith wrote to dispel the errors of mercantilism. Hamilton …