Adam Smith’s legacy explored at Campion College conference

Campion College welcomed scholars, political representatives and commentators to campus on 7–8 August for a two-day conference marking 250 years since the publication of Adam Smith’s landmark The Wealth of Nations.

Hosted by Campion’s Centre for the Study of the Western Tradition (CSWT), the conference, titled Adam Smith’s “Natural System of Liberty”, examined Smith’s enduring contribution to economics, political thought and moral philosophy, as well as the relevance of his ideas to contemporary debates.

Across the two-day program, speakers approached Smith’s legacy from a wide range of perspectives, exploring his ideas on free trade, human nature, religion, technology, consumer sovereignty, usury and the political economy of war and peace. Presentations also considered the continuing relevance of Smith’s thought, from debates surrounding modern protectionism and the early Australian colony to the economic possibilities presented by artificial intelligence.

Conference speakers and papers included:

• The Hon. Christopher Rath MLC — Celebrating 250 years of the Wealth of Nations: is it still relevant today?
• Professor Paul Oslington — Adam Smith, Jeremy Bentham and Usury Laws
• Associate Professor Jeremy Bell — Selfishness and Benevolence: Das Adam Smith Problem revisited
• Dr William Coleman — The Role of the Natural in Adam Smith’s Social Thought: Some Successes and Failures
• Dr John Humphreys — Adam Smith and the Modern Trade Debate
• The Hon. John Ruddick MLC — Adam Smith’s Impact on the Early Australian Colony
• Professor Chris Berg — Technology and Productivity in Adam Smith’s Pin Factory
• Dr Brendan Long — A Summary of the Current Debate on Adam Smith’s Theism
• Associate Professor Gordon Menzies — Western Fundamentalism?
• Dr Jonathan Cole — Hutt, Mises and Smith on Consumer Sovereignty: An Intellectual History
• Dr David M. Hart — War and Political Economy: The Smithian and Saysian Traditions

The conference concluded with a panel discussion on Smith, classical liberalism, and education, featuring Dr William Coleman, Professor Paul Oslington and the Hon. John Ruddick MLC.

See below for photos from the conference.