On the Early Reception and Dissemination of Adam Smith’s Economic Theory in Germany: Literature, Representatives, and the Case of Georg Sartorius

300 years of Adam Smith and his legacy is still of immense importance for economic theory. He promoted the spirit of competition and market economy in the interests of increasing welfare for everyone, although many of the difficulties associated with the development of capitalism were not yet captured by his theory. German representatives of classical national economics in particular drew attention to the limitations of Smith’s system, but they often underestimated the important role Smith assigned to the state, especially with regard to the provision of an institutional framework. Georg Sartorius, the great German advocate of Adam Smith, formulated his own principles of economic theory, based on Smith’s ideas and their critical discussion. Sartorius’s thoughts, interpretations, and findings about Smith once again demonstrate the crucial influence of institutions and of knowledge of the history of thought for explaining economic processes.