Adam Smith would be considered a right wing economist today, similar to Milton Friedman, perhaps with more support for certain government functions such as educ

Adam Smith would be considered a right wing economist today, similar to Milton Friedman, perhaps with more support for certain government functions such as education. However, even on that issue, given the wildly different level of education available today, its not easy to predict what he would think. Often quotations from him are taken wildly out of context to support a 'progressive' viewpoint. An example (From David Friedman's blog): "People of the same trade seldom meet together, even for merriment and diversion, but the conversation ends in a conspiracy against the public, or in some contrivance to raise prices.” But, if we keep reading: It is impossible indeed to prevent such meetings, by any law which either could be executed, or would be consistent with liberty and justice. But though the law cannot hinder people of the same trade from sometimes assembling together, it ought to do nothing to facilitate such assemblies, much less to render them necessary. Adam Smith was a proponent of free trade, free markets, and flat taxation (proportional to income). Not very socialist. (https://daviddfriedman.substack.com/p/discovering-what-is-true https://daviddfriedman.substack.com/p/discovering-what-is-tr...)