Adam Smith, Ayn Rand, and the Philosophic Foundation for Freedom

By Jon Hersey

Adam Smith (1723–1790) and Ayn Rand (1905–1982) are widely considered to offer merely different flavors of pro-capitalist thought. Although Smith never used the word “capitalism” (which was only popularized in the 19th century by the system’s socialist critics), he is commonly referred to as “the father of capitalism.” Rand called herself a “radical for…