In a lecture entitled “The Economist as Preacher,” delivered in 1980, the late George Stigler warned economists against preaching. To illustrate the sort of preaching that economists should avoid, Stigler cited a passage from the Wealth of Nations (widely regarded as a foundational contribution to economics), in which Adam Smith condemned the “debasement of currency.” Stigler quoted Smith as saying,
By means of those operations the princes and sovereign states which performed them were enabled, in appearance, to pay their debts and to fulfill their engagements with a smaller quantity of silver than would otherwise have been requisite. It was indeed in appearance only; for their creditors were really defrauded of ...
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