In No One’s in Charge: The Obvious and Simple System of Natural Liberty, Deirdre Nansen McCloskey and Art Carden revisit the lessons of Adam Smith’s classic work, The Wealth of Nations, on the 250th anniversary of its publications.

In The Wealth of Nations, Adam Smith put forth the key to prosperity as an “obvious and simple system of natural liberty.” Now, 250 years after its publication, Deirdre Nansen McCloskey and Art Carden revisit Smith’s classic work in a modern context. Using contemporary examples—from baseball trading cards and ridesharing to supermarkets and immigration—they show how people pursuing their own interests has led to an enormous explosion of wealth and well-being since the fateful year of The Wealth of Nations’ publication in 1776.

McCloskey and Carden call Adam Smith’s vision one of “primary liberalism.” America’s Founders took it seriously. Yet Smith’s lessons, while timeless, need to be relearned every generation. As the disastrous collectivist experiments of the past two centuries show, it is not central planning schemes but economic liberty, and the idea of commerce as an honorable pursuit, that have made possible the Great Enrichment—the astounding increase in human well-being that began around 200 years ago and continues today. In No One’s in Charge: The Obvious and Simple System of Natural Liberty, McCloskey and Carden take the reader on a journey through the world Adam Smith made.