by Gary PowellHistorical Scottish Penny

Scottish economist Adam Smith authored The Wealth of Nations published in 1776 in London! That year sound familiar? His book is the blueprint for the free market system which we are struggling to maintain today. Adam Smith’s bust can be found on the historic Scottish penny minted in 1797.

Many contemporary economists believe there is a modern-day “corporate betrayal” of Adam Smith’s economics philosophy. I was struck with the idea that the market economy works only when producers of products have a level playing field free from special interests from any large concentrations of wealth, power and influence and that the fruits of one’s labor should go to the producer. Thusly, I penned the song which commemorates Adam Smith’s penny and the idea that a good portion of that earned penny should belong to the person who produced the work.

In 1751, Smith was appointed Professor of Logic at Glasgow University, transferring in 1752 to the Chair of Moral Philosophy. His lectures covered the field of ethics, rhetoric, jurisprudence and political economy, or “police and revenue”. That said, the philosophy related in the lyrics of the song, “Which Side of the Penny is Yours”, are Adam Smith’s. The “earthy” fashioned lyric is mine and would probably not have been approved knowing Adam Smith’s puritanical leanings. This is clearly my interpretation and no disrepect is meant for Adam Smith’s work which has so influenced and helped liberate the individual human being.

To learn more, please visit The Adam Smith Institute

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Adam Smith Authors The Wealth of Nations<\/u><\/h2>
“Which Side of the Penny is Yours?” from Aristotle’s Prayer<\/i>"},"content":{"rendered":"

by Gary Powell\"Historical<\/p>\n

<\/div>\n
Scottish economist Adam Smith<\/a> authored The Wealth of Nations<\/u> published in 1776 in London! That year sound familiar? His book is the blueprint for the free market system which we are struggling to maintain today. Adam Smith’s bust can be found on the historic Scottish penny minted in 1797. <\/div>\n

Many contemporary economists believe there is a modern-day “corporate betrayal”<\/a> of Adam Smith’s economics philosophy. I was struck with the idea that the market economy works only when producers of products have a level playing field free from special interests from any large concentrations of wealth, power and influence and that the fruits of one’s labor should go to the producer. Thusly, I penned the song which commemorates Adam Smith’s penny and the idea that a good portion of that earned penny should belong to the person who produced the work. <\/p>\n

In 1751, Smith was appointed Professor of Logic at Glasgow University, transferring in 1752 to the Chair of Moral Philosophy. His lectures covered the field of ethics, rhetoric, jurisprudence and political economy, or “police and revenue”. That said, the philosophy related in the lyrics of the song, “Which Side of the Penny is Yours”<\/i>, are Adam Smith’s. The “earthy” fashioned lyric is mine and would probably not have been approved knowing Adam Smith’s puritanical leanings. This is clearly my interpretation and no disrepect is meant for Adam Smith’s work which has so influenced and helped liberate the individual human being. <\/p>\n

To learn more, please visit The Adam Smith Institute<\/a><\/p>\n

<\/center><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Which Side of the Penny is Yours?<\/h1>\n

Music and Lyric by Gary Powell<\/i> <\/p>\n

Verse 1<\/u><\/b>
\nA Scottish lad of twenty-eight
\nand the toast of Glasgow U.
\nPlease let me introduce myself
\nAdam Smith\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s the name and you?<\/p>\n

You\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve me to thank for all you got
\nWithout me you\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re a slave
\nIt is my task, I have to ask
\nThis query from the grave<\/p>\n

Chorus 1<\/u><\/b>
\nOh, which side of the penny is yours, me lad
\nWhich side of the penny is yours?
\nWho\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s life is it anyway
\nAnd who is minding the store?<\/p>\n

I see a hand that\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s down your pants
\nYou\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve taken no notice before
\nYou\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve been led astray, I hate to say
\nThe hand it is not yours<\/p>\n

Oh, which side of the penny is yours, me lad
\nWhich side of the penny is yours?<\/p>\n

Verse 2<\/u><\/b>
\nIn seventeen hundred seventy-six
\nI penned the book of greed
\nTo tell the tale let truth prevail
\nWhat the Wealth of Nations need<\/p>\n

I know the interest and the wages
\nThe prices and the rents
\nWith a four-edged sword I have restored
\nA pound or two and some pence<\/p>\n

Bridge 1<\/u><\/b>
\nYou work and toil \u00e2\u20ac\u0153for whom?\u00e2\u20ac\u009d you ask
\nAnd what to you is returned?
\nHere\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s the deal the king\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s revealed
\nYou keep the money you\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve earned<\/p>\n

Chorus 2<\/u><\/b>
\nWhich side of the penny is yours, me lass
\nWhich side of the penny is yours?
\nWho\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s life is it anyway
\nAnd who is minding the store?<\/p>\n

I see the wind blow up your skirt
\nAnd though you\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re known by the Pope
\nYou\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve been led astray, I hate to say
\nBy a Parliamential grope<\/p>\n

Oh, which side of the penny is yours, me lass
\nWhich side of the penny is yours?<\/p>\n

Verse 3<\/u><\/b>
\nThe ethics and the rhetoric
\nAnd jurisprudence galore
\nIt\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s not all academic crap
\nWhen your coffers are not yours<\/p>\n

You feel your pleasure you feel you pain
\nSo why would you agree
\nTo circumvent your own consent
\nTo a statewide spending spree?<\/p>\n

Bridge 2<\/u><\/b>
\nWhat a mess it seems I started now
\nGet off your duff and milk the cow
\nThe milk is yours for free exchange
\nTrade it for whiskey and keep the change<\/p>\n

Verse 4<\/u><\/b>
\nPolitical economy
\nI\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m an oxymoronical knight
\n(knight with a \u00e2\u20ac\u0153k\u00e2\u20ac\u009d)
\nIt\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s what I do and my hope for you
\n Is America gets it right<\/p>\n

Oh, say can you see?<\/p>\n

Chorus 3<\/u><\/b>
\nWhich side of the penny is yours, Dear God
\nWhich side of the penny is yours?
\nWho\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s life is this anyway
\nIf you are minding the store?<\/p>\n

Where there\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s holy smoke and armies
\nYour hand, dear God, is near
\nYou\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve been led astray, I hate to say
\nWe will take it from here<\/p>\n

Oh, which side of the penny is yours, dear God
\nWhich side of the penny is yours?<\/p>\n

Which side of the penny, which side of the penny
\nWhich side of the penny is yours?
\nWhich side of the penny
\nWhich side of the penny
\nWhich side of the penny
\nWhich side of the penny is yours?<\/p>\n

Verse 5<\/u><\/b>
\nA Scottish man of twenty-eight
\nAnd the toast of Glasgow U.
\nNow I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve introduced myself
\nAdam Smith\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s the name and you?<\/p>\n

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