250 years after Adam Smith published The Wealth of Nations, have we in Australia forgotten the foundational economic lessons that Smith offered?

On this week’s Afternoon Light Georgina Downer speaks with Joseph Healy to resuscitate the insights of famous Scottish Enlightenment thinker Adam Smith to help tackle Australia’s current problems. From cost of living and housing crises to corporate cronyism and moral decline, Smith can help us understand why we’ve gone wrong, and what we can do to bring back not just our prosperity, but our vitality.

Joseph Healy is a career international banker and mental health entrepreneur. He was a co-founder and CEO of Judo Bank, a bank created to serve the needs of the SME economy – the baker, the butcher, and the brewer. He is also a co-founder and Executive Chairman of Malu Health Group, which specialises in mental health care. Joseph holds six master’s degrees in subjects covering financial economics, business studies, Chinese studies, and the psychology and neuroscience of mental health. He is the author of What Would Adam Smith Make of Modern Australia? How Lessons from the Past Provide Answers for a Better Future.