• I am an enthusiastic teacher, and I bring my passion for learning in the classroom. In my research, I work in the history of economic thought, specializing in the 18th century. My focus is on Adam Smith, David Hume, monetary theories, and the Scottish Enlightenment.

    I analyze how self-interest interacts with other motivational drives, with systematic biases, and with the surrounding institutional environment. I also explore the links between the Scottish Enlightenment and the results from behavioral economics, evolutionary biology, and neuroeconomics.

    I regularly publish in History of Political Economy (HOPE), The Journal of the History of Economic Thought (JHET), and History of Economic Ideas (HEI). I wrote the Routledge Guidebook of Smith's Wealth of Nations (2020).

    The European Society for the History of Economic Thought awarded my HOPE 2008 "The Adam Smith Problem in Reverse: Self-Interest in Adam Smith's Wealth of Nations, and Theory of Moral Sentiments" the prize of Best Article of Year (2009). I was the book review editor for the Journal of the History of Economic Thought, the vice-president of the History of Economics Society, and i am the current president of the International Adam Smith Society and the current president of the History of Economics Society.

    • Ph.D. in Economics, George Mason University 
    • M.A. in Economics, George Mason University 
    • M.A/B.A in Political Sciences, Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore

    Journal Articles:

    • “The Digression of Silver as the Centerpiece of the Wealth of Nations” Cambridge Journal of Economics. 2022. 46.3: 531-544.
    • “Do Not Take Peace for Granted: Adam Smith’s Warning on the Relation between Commerce and War” with Reinhard Schumacher. Cambridge Journal of Economics. 2019. 43.3: 785-797.
    • “Adam Smith Anti-Stoic” with Michele Bee. History of European Ideas. 2019. 2019. 45.4, 572-584.
    • “We Are Not The Center of The Universe: The Role of Astronomy in the Development of Morality in Adam Smith.” History of Political Economy. 2017. 49.3: 451-468.
    • “Boys Do Cry: Adam Smith on Wealth and Expressing Emotions” Journal of Scottish Philosophy. 2017. 15.1: 1-8.  
    • “David Hume on Banking and Hoarding” Southern Economic Journal. 2014. 80.4: 968-980.

     

    Books:

    • The Routledge Guidebook to Adam Smith’s Wealth of Nations. 2020. Routledge.
    • Adam Smith and Rousseau: Ethics, Politics, and Economics. Co-Editor. With Dennis Rasmussen and Craig Smith. Edinburgh University Press. 2018.
    • Oxford Handbook on Adam Smith. Co-Editor. With Christopher Berry and Craig Smith. Oxford: Oxford University Press. 2013.

     

    Complete List of Publications

     

    • Principles of Microeconomics 
    • Principles of Macroeconomics
    • Economic Analysis of the Law 
    • History of Economic Thought 
    • Principles of Macroeconomics 
    • Faculty-led study abroad: The Unique Economic, Geologic, and Cultural History of Iceland
    • First Year Seminar: A Nation of Immigrants
    • Adam Smith's Wealth of Nations