Dr. Jonathan B. Wight
Professor of Economics and International Studies
(804) 289-8570
jwight@richmond.edu
Topics: Ethics (of capitalism), Economics (Globalization, Ethics, and Adam Smith)
Wight lectures widely on the role of ethics in the study of economics. According to Wight, ethical frameworks help the analysis of markets and establish the critical thinking skills needed for public policy analysis.
Wight teaches in the University's Robins School of Business, where he has won outstanding teaching and service awards. He holds a B.A. from Duke and a Ph.D. in economics from Vanderbilt University, where he was a Danforth Fellow. He is the author of Saving Adam Smith: A Tale of Wealth, Transformation, and Virtue (Prentice Hall, 2002), and co-editor, Teaching the Ethical Foundations of Economics (forthcoming). He has published numerous articles on Adam Smith’s moral framework. The article, “Adam Smith and Greed,” won the John Templeton Prize in 2006 from the Journal of Private Enterprise. Another forthcoming article, “The Treatment of Smith’s Invisible Hand,” addresses the role of ethics in Smith’s notion of order and progress.
Wight also addresses aspects of globalization (its history, growth, and ethical dimensions).