In the late summer and early fall of 1771 Benjamin Franklin, on travel in Ireland and Scotland, met with James Watt and Adam Smith. The same James Watt that developed the steam engine that started the industrial revolution. And the same Adam Smith whose Wealth of Nations would introduce the world to the formal concepts of capitalism five years later. If there’s an answer to the “fly on the wall” question for me, it’s hard to think of two conversations I’d want to hear more.  Continue reading →