Adam Smith Society

The Adam Smith Society is a chapter-based association of business school students and professionals named after the 18th-century economist, Adam Smith, and established by the Manhattan Institute for Policy Research in 2011, to promote discussion about the moral, social, and economic benefits of capitalism.[1][3][4][2] The Adam Smith Society has been described as having been formed "to achieve in business schools what the Federalist Society achieved in law schools, exposing students to the philosophical and moral underpinnings of capitalism",[3] and has been compared with the Benjamin Rush Society in medical schools and the Alexander Hamilton Society in foreign policy education, based on the fact that "all three groups subscribe to principles of individual liberty, limited government, and free markets".[3]

Adam Smith Society
Formation2011
TypeBusiness
Parent organization
Manhattan Institute for Policy Research[1][2]
Websiteadamsmithsociety.com

The Society hosts events on public policy, business, entrepreneurship and technology with scholars, experts, and business leaders from across the ideological spectrum. Events have focused on technology, free trade, entrepreneurship, and the works of Adam Smith. In addition to chapter-based lectures, debates, and dinners, the Adam Smith Society has an annual meeting and leadership retreat in New York City; destination-based treks for members to learn about a particular subject; and one-off events, such as case competitions.

History

In late 2010, the Manhattan Institute partnered with the Marilyn G. Fedak Capitalism Project to establish the Adam Smith Society at elite U.S. business schools,[1][5] with a goal to create a new organization to:

...provide future business leaders with access to contemporary thought leaders who were at the forefront of understanding and promoting the market economy, while giving young men and women the tools they needed to promote a positive and thoughtful understanding of the free market system on their campuses.[2]

Since 2011, the Adam Smith Society has expanded to more than 30 chapters at MBA schools, as well as professional chapters in major cities. In 2014, the Adam Smith Society collaborated with Encounter Books and James R. Otteson to publish an anthology of writings by Adam Smith and other important economic thinkers titled What Adam Smith Knew.[6] In fall 2017, the Society launched their first international professional chapter in London, United Kingdom.[7] The Society's first international student chapter was founded at The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Israel in May 2018.[8]

The Adam Smith Society is not directly related to the 19th century Adam Smith Society promoted by Italian economist and proponent of capitalism Francesco Ferrara,[9][10] and to the International Adam Smith Society established in 1995,[11] although it has some interests in common with each of these, and all share the same namesake.

Chapters

As of 2019, the organization had nine city-based professional chapters and more than 30 student chapters. Professional chapters are located in Austin, Boston, Chicago, Dallas, Houston, London, New York City, San Francisco, and Washington, D.C.[12] Student chapters can be found at most of the top business schools across the United States, and in several other countries.[13] These include:

Activities and events
Carly Fiorina, Vanessa Mendoza, and Marilyn Fedak at the Adam Smith Society National Meeting in New York City on February 21, 2014.

National Meeting

The Adam Smith Society National Meeting, an annual two-day spring weekend in New York City, brings together MBA students, alumni, policy experts and business leaders for panels and discussion. An awards ceremony highlights the winners of various competitive awards.[14] The Principled Leadership Award is presented annually to a business leader who best embodies the Adam Smith Society. Past recipients include Cliff Asness and Kenneth C. Griffin.

The April 2018 National Meeting featured a debate in partnership with Intelligence Squared U.S. on bitcoin and cryptocurrencies, featuring Tim Draper, Patrick M. Byrne, Eric Posner, and Gillian Tett. Draper "was asked how Bitcoin compared with his previous tech investments" and gave a positive evaluation of the technology, estimating that it would be bigger than Hotmail, Skype, and Tesla combined.[15][16]

Case competition

In 2018, the Society inaugurated an annual case competition allowing student chapters to compete against one another in devising a solution to a variety of business issues. All student chapters can apply to host the competition or send a team to compete. The first such competition was hosted, and won, by the Brigham Young University Marriott School of Business chapter.[17]

Other programs

Chapters of the Society have hosted various speaking events on their respective campuses. In October 2016, the MIT Sloan School of Management chapter hosted Zambian economist Dambisa Moyo.[18] In 2017, Time magazine noted that concerns were raised when political scientist Charles Murray was invited to speak at "an invitation-only address organized by the Vanderbilt chapter of the Adam Smith Society, an association for MBA students" a month after Murray had been aggressively confronted at an event at Middlebury College in Vermont.[19] In February 2018, the Darden School of Business chapter had a Liberty Week, a "series of events exploring the role capitalism plays in global economic systems", including a speaking engagement by senior Economist editor Ryan Avent discussing the impact that continuing technological development would have on the economy.[20]

Personnel

The organization has an Advisory Board composed of the following members:[21]

  • Marilyn G. Fedak, Vice President Emeritus, Alliance Bernstein and Founder, Marilyn G. Fedak Capitalism Project
  • Evan Baehr, Co-Founder, Able Lending, & Co-Author, Get Backed
  • Eugene B. Meyer, President, The Federalist Society for Law and Public Policy Studies
  • Lawrence Mone, President, Manhattan Institute for Policy Research
  • James Piereson, President, The William E. Simon Foundation

References
  1. Choi, Amy (March 4, 2014). "Defying Skeptics, Some Business Schools Double Down on Capitalism". Bloomberg Business News. Retrieved 24 February 2015.
  2. "Who We Are: The Adam Smith Society". Retrieved February 2, 2019.
  3. Avery, Michael; McLaughlin, Danielle (April 15, 2013). "How Conservatives Captured the Law". The Chronicle of Higher Education.
  4. "In the Club: The Adam Smith Society". Leeds School of Business. 18 September 2018.
  5. "Chapter 11: Prepare to Be Surprised". Philanthropy Roundtable. Retrieved February 2, 2019.
  6. James R. Otteson, What Adam Smith Knew: Moral Lessons on Capitalism from Its Greatest Champions and Fiercest Opponents (2014), p. 1.
  7. "London Chapter Launch". Adam Smith Society. 20 November 2017.
  8. "Hebrew University (HUJI)". Adam Smith Society. 10 May 2018.
  9. Manuela Mosca, "The 'industrial mentality' of Angelo Marescotti", in Associazione italiana per la storia del pensiero economico, Marco Enrico Luigi Guidi, Daniela Parisi, eds., The Changing Firm: Contributions from the History of Economic Thought (2005), p. 162.
  10. Cheng-chung Lai, Adam Smith Across Nations : Translations and Receptions of The Wealth of Nations (2000), p. 147.
  11. "International Adam Smith Society". Retrieved January 27, 2019.
  12. "Professional Chapters". Adam Smith Society. Retrieved January 26, 2019.
  13. "Student Chapters". Adam Smith Society. Retrieved April 8, 2016.
  14. "Adam Smith Society National Meeting". Retrieved February 5, 2019.
  15. Helsby, Michael (24 April 2018). "Tim Draper: More Secure in Bitcoin Than the Money Sitting in Wells Fargo". Cryptodisrupt.com.
  16. Rosen, Jim (May 11, 2018). "Powered by Blockchain". Medium.
  17. Brunken, Kelly (March 20, 2018). "BYU Marriott Hosts, Wins Competition". Marriott School of Business.
  18. "Luncheon with Dambisa Moyo, Sponsored by the Adam Smith Society". MIT Sloan School of Management. October 5, 2016.
  19. Reilly, Katie (March 13, 2017). "How Violent Campus Protests Became a Warning for Other Schools". Time.
  20. Hendrick, Dave (February 8, 2018). "Exploring the Future of Bitcoin, China and Human Work as 'Optional'". The Darden Report.
  21. "Adam Smith Society Advisory Board". Retrieved February 1, 2019.
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