Book review: Inventing the market: Smith, Hegel & political theory

"Inventing the Market: Smith, Hegel & Political Theory." Liza Herzog. Oxford University Press. April 2013. --- Inventing the Market: Smith, Hegel, and Political Theory analyses the constructions of the market in the thought of Adam Smith and Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel and discusses their relevance for contemporary political philosophy. Combining the history of ideas with systematic analysis, it contrasts Smith’s view of the market as a benevolently designed ‘contrivance of nature’ with Hegel’s view of the market as a ‘relic of the state of nature.’ As the various prizes won by Herzog for this work confirm, this is an excellent scholarly effort, concludes Luis Boscán.