The Moral Market

Adam Smith and the Promise of Virtuous CapitalismPatrick Ryan

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Length14h 13m

About this audiobook

Adam Smith has been misappropriated for two centuries. Invoked as the patron saint of self-interest and unrestrained markets, the real Smith — moral philosopher, civic thinker, and fierce critic of monopoly and greed — has been hiding in plain sight. The Moral Market recovers that Smith and puts him to work on the defining challenge of our time: how do we build a capitalism that actually works — not just for shareholders, but for society? Drawing on The Theory of Moral Sentiments and The Wealth of Nations in equal measure, and ranging across Bernard Mandeville, the Scottish Enlightenment, and contemporary governance failures, Patrick Ryan constructs a rigorous and readable case for virtuous capitalism. This is not nostalgia. It is architecture — a framework for markets built on prudence, justice, beneficence, sympathy, and civic purpose.

Audiobook details

GenreBusiness and Economics, Politics and Government

Length14 hrs 13 mins

Narrated bySelect Your Own

FormateBook with Audio

Publish dateMar 18, 2026

LanguageEnglish

1Chapter 1

10Chapter 6: Two Visions of Capitalism

21776

11Chapter 7: The Rise of the Executive Influencer

3Author’s Note

12Chapter 8: The Collapse of Market Constraint

4Introduction: Reclaiming Capitalism

13Chapter 9: The Conditions of Justice and Trust

5Chapter 1: The Birth of Moral Capitalism

14Chapter 10: The Civic Architecture of a Moral Market

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6Chapter 2: The Education of a Moral Economist

15Chapter 11: Ethical Leadership and Institutional Governance

7Chapter 3: The Discipline of Sympathy and Exchange

16Chapter 12: Building a Post-Scarcity Moral Economy

8Chapter 4: Wealth, Power, and the Fragility of Justice

17Afterword: A Promise To Keep

9Chapter 5: Slavery, Empire, and the East India Company

About the author

Patrick Ryan

Patrick Ryan is a Chartered Director, entrepreneur, and governance scholar based in Dublin, Ireland. Founder and former CEO of KYCnet (acquired by Equiniti PLC) and author of the Financial Institutions NED Playbook, he has spent a decade advising boards across fintech, regtech, and technology. The Moral Market is the culmination of years of research into the moral foundations of capitalism — and a conviction that Adam Smith has been profoundly misread. It makes the case for a virtuous capitalism grounded in prudence, fairness, and civic purpose.View all by Patrick Ryan