The baker, the bread eater, and their habitat: Self-interest and sustainability accounting in a post-Smithian world

Adam Smith's insight that economic exchange is driven by self-interest rather than benevolence remains foundational to modern economic thought. However, the institutional, social, and ecological conditions that shaped Smith's perspective have changed profoundly. This paper revisits the figures of the baker, the bread eater, and the habitat to explore how self-interest now operates in a post-Smithian world marked by globalised production, financialised capitalism, and mounting ecological constraints. It argues that, although self-interest still organises economic activities, the moral and communal restraints Smith assumed have been significantly weakened. As a result, corporate externalities have accumulated to a scale that threatens both social well-being and the integrity of our shared environment. The paper uses the "baker" as a metaphor for the self-interested economic actor who produces goods for personal gain through market exchange. The "bread eater" refers to ordinary citizens, vulnerable workers, marginalised communities, consumers, and future generations. These are the people who bear the costs of corporate self-interest but have little voice or protection. The "habitat" is a fragile socio-ecological system that sustains human life but is increasingly pushed beyond its limits. Drawing on political economy, sustainability accounting, and earth system science, the paper develops a conceptual model that links economic self-interest to social and ecological harm through the production of externalities. It then positions sustainability governance, especially sustainability accounting, as a crucial institutional response. The analysis shows how sustainability accounting can disrupt this causal chain by making externalities visible, redistributing informational power, and enabling regulatory, investor, civic, and technological pressures to change corporate behaviour. The paper examines the roles of the state, corporations, civil society, and digital technologies in a multi-level governance system designed to protect both the "bread eater" and the "habitat". Ultimately, this work contributes to accounting and sustainability scholarship by advancing a normative and conceptual framework for embedding self-interest within institutions to safeguard people and their environments in the post-Smithian era.