Barack Obama (Former USA President) Obama, unsurprisingly, appears to be more drawn to stories sympathetic to the working classes than is McCain. Obama cites John Steinbeck’s “In Dubious Battle,” about a labor dispute; Robert Caro’s “Power Broker,” about Robert Moses; and Studs Terkel’s “Working.” But he also includes Adam Smith’s “Wealth of Nations” and “Theory of Moral Sentiments” on his list.

David Heinemeier Hansson (Co-Founder/Basecamp) It’s hard to believe that Adam Smith wrote this tome in 1776! It’s written in such plain, if repetitive, language that it makes the basic economic theory easily accessible. That doesn’t mean it’s right. The book on Debt: The First 5,000 Years spent a fair chunk of time debunking many of Smith’s accounts of “the barter, truck, and exchange” cultures that supposedly were the rude state of man before the introduction of coinage. But the book is all the better from a read with a critical mind. It presents such a basic, plain description of capitalism and its functions that serves as a proper grounding for a critique. It’s also full of kinda hilarious deep dives into the exchange rates between silver and gold and other commodities set to 1770s prices.

every person should have read in order to have a basic conversation

It remains a book well worth reading, full of wonderful comments to warm a libertarian's heart.

Well, if one actually reads the book, it’s full of wise reflections on oversized corporations and monetary systems. It’s not a naive book. He was well aware of the dangers of corporations, and particularly of banks. So if you read it closely it’s not a naive apology for unregulated markets, but he’s quite keenly aware of the problems of financial regulation.