ABSTRACT
The opinions of Du Pont de Nemours and Condorcet quoted above2 on the possible relationship between Turgot’s ‘Reflections on the Formation and Distribution of Wealth’ and Adam Smith’s An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations started what is probably the oldest controversy in the history of economic thought. Time and time again this question has intrigued scholars of various nationalities, and new hypotheses are still being put forward to explain it.3 This chapter intends to review the controversy, to appraise the evidence, and to give some conclusions on the subject of what has been called the ‘Smith-Turgot myth’.4
