That’s what the Pulitzer Prize-winning composer David Lang wanted to learn. So he turned Adam Smith’s The Wealth of Nations into an oratorio. We tag along as Lang’s piece heads toward its world premiere with the New York Philharmonic. (Part one of a <a href="https://freakonomics.com/david-langs-the-wealth-of-nations/" rel="noopener noreferrer">two-part series</a>.)
 
<ul>
 <li>SOURCES:
 <ul>
 <li><a href="https://www.fleurbarron.com/" rel="noopener noreferrer">Fleur Barron</a>, opera singer and mezzo-soprano.</li>
 <li><a href="https://davidlangmusic.com/about/" rel="noopener noreferrer">David Lang</a>, composer and professor at the Yale School of Music.</li>
 </ul></li>
</ul>
 
<ul>
 <li>RESOURCES:
 <ul>
 <li>"<a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2026-03-20/gustavo-dudamel-s-the-wealth-of-nations-melds-opera-and-economics?embedded-checkout=true" rel="noopener noreferrer">Finally, an Opera About Economics</a>," by Stacey Vanek Smith (Bloomberg, 2026).</li>
 <li>"<a href="https://davidlangmusic.bandcamp.com/album/the-little-match-girl-passion" rel="noopener noreferrer">The Little Match Girl Passion</a>," by David Lang (2023).</li>
 <li><a href="https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.207956/page/n3/mode/2up" rel="noopener noreferrer">The Wealth of Nations</a>, by Adam Smith (1776).</li>
 </ul></li>
</ul>
 
<ul>
 <li>EXTRAS:
 <ul>
 <li>"<a href="https://freakonomics.com/podcast-tag/in-search-of-the-real-adam-smith/" rel="noopener noreferrer">In Search of the Real Adam Smith</a>," series by Freakonomics Radio (2022).</li>
 </ul></li>
</ul> Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See <a href="https://pcm.adswizz.com">pcm.adswizz.com</a> for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

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