Read the Excellent Adam Smith Review (annual)

The 3rd issue of the Adam Smith Review, edited by Vivienne Brown, Professor of Intelelctual History, Open University, was published in 2007. I have only just received a copy because Adam Smith’s Lost Legacy (Palgrave) was reviewed by Professor E. J. Harpham (University of Texas at Dallas) and the practice of the ASR is to allow authors a response. (It was a fair review, of which critical parts I accepted.)

My reason for posting on this is because it was only a short time earlier I managed to get a copy of the 2nd issue, to which I shall comment enthusiasticaly in the next post. When I heard about the first issue of the ASR I acquired a copy via Amazon (very expensive it was too at over £100). I discovered that if you joined the International Adam Smith Society (IASS) as part of your annual subscription you received the ASR at a heavily discounted price.

That’s when my trouble began. You have to pay via Pay Pal (US). That’s when I clashed with the ‘system’. In the midst of transferring about £20, Pay Pall changed its ‘system’ and required British customers to use Pay Pal (UK). My money got lost somewhere; I had sent it to the wrong address and I could not retrieve it. Then followed several emails of the spam type seeking details. I gave up as it looked insecure.

Now be clear, readers, I buy many books a year via Amazon US and UK, and pay via the card systems in place. I have never had any trouble at all.

I have tried to no avail to join the IASS via round-about methods to get round this Pay Pal fiasco. Last year I had similar trouble registering with the 35th Annual Conference of the History of Economics Society and was ‘saved’ by its excellent administrative staff to avoid Pay Pal and use a credit card.

This problem presently is holding up my making a cash donation to the 2008 Summer School at GMU for Young Scholars. Why disrupt a world-wide perfectly functioning Visa/Master Card system by insisting on adopting Pay Pal?

So, while I strongly recommend to you both the IASS and the ASR as essential tools of a student of Adam Smith I cannot help you acquire the reviews, except via Amazon. They are well worth the money – get your library to order them unless you have Pay Pal. Your students and colleagues will benefit enormously (see next post)

The International Adam Smith Society is contacted via: www.adamsmithsociety.com or via Aaron Garrett (garrettnecessary AT gmail DoT com)