Paul Ormerod, in his book, "The Death of Ecomonics" (Faber & Faber 1994), writes:

"Contrary to the general perception, The Wealth of Nations is by no means a pure eulogy of and apology for free-market forces. Margaret Thatcher famously declared, 'There is no such thing as society.' But such a sentiment would have been completely alien to Adam Smith, who attached great importance to the concept of society. Indeed, before The Wealth of Nations appeared, he was already famous for his previous great work, The Theory of Moral Sentiments.

"A central theme of Moral Sentiments was precisely to show how there are propensities in human nature which incline us towards society...

"The moral climate in which the economy and society function is also an important theme in The Wealth of Nations. The enlightened puruit of self-interest is seen as the driving force of a successful economy, but in the context of a shared view of what constitutes reasonable behaviour. For Smith, an important role of the state was to assume powers which could be used if necessary to support the moral framework. This did not simply extend to the system of justice, or even to legal provisions for the state to deal with monopoly powers...

"The importance to Smith of the overall set of values in which the economy operates is generally ignored by his followers in the late twentieth century. His economics, based on individual self-interest, is remembered, but his moral framework is not."