What Would Adam Smith Make of Modern Australia?

How lessons from the past provide answers for a better future

By: Joseph Healy

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Paperback | 29 July 2025 | Edition Number 1

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224 Pages

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20.8 x 13.8 x 1.9

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Australia today is prosperous by many traditional economic measures yet getting progressively poorer by other measures of what constitutes a vibrant, healthy and good society. Should we look to the Scottish 18th-Century writer, intellectual, 'Father of Economics' Adam Smith to provide answers for a better future?

Who was Adam Smith? You would think that Scottish 18th-century writer, intellectual, 'Father of Economics', Adam Smith would have lost relevance in our modern society. Quite the opposite, according to Joseph Healy, who believes there is much to learn from Adam Smith, if we are to strive for a more equitable, productive and happier society. Australia today is prosperous by many traditional economic measures yet getting progressively poorer by other measures of what constitutes a vibrant, healthy and good society. And the direction of travel is concerning. Australia's economic pie (GDP) might be growing, but too many people are getting smaller and smaller pieces of it, and a handful are getting far more than they can possibly eat. This thought-provoking book explores how our economic progress seems inversely correlated to a decline in important measures of societal wellbeing, such as the alarming increase in family dysfunctionality, domestic violence, the scale and scope of mental health-associated problems and a persistently deteriorating trend in baseline education. In many ways, Australia is becoming a divided society, and this is a serious trajectory if not addressed and corrected. With historical and recent references, Healy has written an important and engaging discourse for readers keen to understand where our society can improve and how we can assist.

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