• Rediscovering Hamilton—and Hernando de Soto 
Roger Kaplan, American Spectator Adam Smith never wrote about political regimes as such. Hamilton, of course, as one of the authors of The Federalist, was one of the great political thinkers of modern times. He took an active and profound interest in the kind of political system the newly independent Colonies would produce. To revert again to a deplorably facile anachronism, Smith was a libertarian, though no Randian -- his Moral Sentiments makes that clear -- while Hamilton sought a balance between Colbertian mercantilism and free trade.   Published: 2011-04-13