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Adam Smith in Toulouse and Occitania: The Unknown Years

2022; Oxford University Press; Volume: 41; Issue: 1 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1093/cpe/bzac016

1464-3588

Gabriel Sabbagh,

European Political History Analysis

These books were preceded by two remarkable theses authored by Philippe Massot-Bordenave and Thérence Carvalho and by a book in French (Alcouffe & Massot- Bordenave, 2018). Both works deal with Physiocracy (which was strong in Toulouse) and discuss, rather briefly, its influence on the Wealth of Nations, a topic which deserves another book. Imagination and originality are generally in short supply. They are found in many pages of the first book. That book focuses on the stay of Adam Smith in Toulouse and the South of France in 1764–1765 and confronts his experiences there with his Wealth of Nations. Many suggestions are offered, each of which might lead to interesting research. Two of them should be noted. First, on pp.79–80. the authors, describe the public works launched in Toulouse by Loménie de Brienne and tell us that ‘Loménie (showed) the concern for transport systems… found in the Wealth of Nations’. They reproduce a few lines of this book with the comment that, ‘Smith could only support Loménie’s initiatives in public works’. This is certainly interesting but it is too short to be fully convincing.