[Approfondimento] Mercato e giustizia sociale. Un’intervista impossibile ad Adam Smith e Friedrich von Hayek

In this paper, a comparison between classical liberalism and neoliberalism is proposed in the form of an impossible interview of Adam Smith and Friedrich von Hayek by a contemporary economist. The Gatekeeper of the Afterlife adds freshness with her ‘common sense’ remarks. The aim of the work is to combine academic rigour (bibliographical references of the interviewees’ stances are in the text or in the footnotes) with a lively and engaging dialogic form. This interview is part of a wide-ranging journey by the authors around the use of the language of the theatre for educational and dissemination purposes. It focuses on several themes, including the link between ethics and economics. Indeed, Smith was primarily a moral philosopher, while Hayek made important reflections on economics of knowledge and on the relationship between the individual and society, so as to be considered as an economist and a political scientist.