Adam Smith, Justice, and the Moral Foundations of Economic Coordination

Adam Smith is frequently portrayed as a theorist of market efficiency and self-interest. This interpretation understates the moral and institutional foundations that Smith regarded as necessary for markets to function. Drawing on The Theory of Moral Sentiments, An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations, and the Lectures on Jurisprudence, this article argues that Smith understood economic coordination to depend on justice expressed through general and enforceable rules. Markets function only when property is secure, contracts are enforced, and laws are impartially applied. Justice is therefore not an external support to markets but a necessary precondition for their operation. By clarifying the institutional role of justice and general rules, this article offers a more complete account of Smith’s moral theory and situates his political economy within a broader tradition of rule-based governance.