adam smith vs adam smiths

Both 'Adam Smith' and 'Adam Smith's' are correct, but they are used in different contexts. 'Adam Smith' is used to refer to the person, while 'Adam Smith's' is used to show possession or association with something belonging to Adam Smith.

Last updated: March 29, 2024

adam smith

Correct. 'Adam Smith' is the name of a famous economist and philosopher.

Use 'Adam Smith' when referring to the person, as in 'Adam Smith was a key figure in the development of modern economics.'

Examples:

Adam Smith's ideas laid the foundation for classical economics.
The book discusses the theories of Adam Smith.

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The Adam Smith construction project downtown.
Remember that Adam Smith called his great work An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations.
I think even Adam Smith was quoted in that.
A guy named Adam Smith set up my uncle.
You're Adam Smith's invisible right hand.
Financial markets currently owe less to Adam Smith than to the Cincinnati Kid.
Recall the lessons of Adam Smith... the father of modern economics.
It is an ethnic group with a religious base, the holy alliance of Adam Smith and Calvin.
Consider Adam Smith's concept of the "invisible hand," which implies that a market equilibrium is efficient if perfect competition prevails and well-defined property rights exist.
And I knew a little economics by then - it says Adam Smith taught us that specialization leads to productivity.
Even Adam Smith believed that unbridled free markets have their limits, said Graham WATSON (UK), speaking for the ALDE group.
But not even Adam Smith could have foreseen the inequities of modern capitalism.
Then Adam Smith comes and what he adds... is the religion to this...
In more turgid prose, but closer to the truth, was the father of modern capitalism, Adam Smith, and he said this.
But if you do one step every time, maybe you don't care as much. I think that in the Industrial Revolution, Adam Smith was more correct than Karl Marx.
And even our best attempts to work up sympathy for those who are unconnected with us fall miserably short, a sad truth about human nature that was pointed out by Adam Smith.
Now this is the same Adam Smith who, 17 years later, would write a little book called "The Wealth of Nations" - the founding document of economics.
The global economic financial crisis has reignited public interest in something that's actually one of the oldest questions in economics, dating back to at least before Adam Smith.
He was Adam Smith - not Billy Connolly, not Sean Connery - though he is very smart indeed.
It will be merely a vast free-trade area, and everyone knows that, according to Adam Smith, free trade equals national poverty.

Alternatives:

the economist Adam Smith
the philosopher Adam Smith
Adam Smith's theories

adam smiths

Correct. 'Adam Smith's' is used to indicate possession or association with something belonging to Adam Smith.

Use 'Adam Smith's' to show that something belongs to or is associated with Adam Smith, as in 'Adam Smith's book' or 'Adam Smith's theories.'