Interesting take on things. Smith is definitely a founding father on the subject and although I am not well versed on his writings, the people who have come after him, have influenced me substantially. Steven Levitt is prolly my favorite author and podcaster, I have read Freakonomics series and listen to his podcast religiously, he gives such great insight on the economics of everything.

You are right when you talk about every interaction being essentially an economic exchange. The only thing I think you are missing is that humans are irrational actors and their words usually differ from their actions. Humans act for two basic reasons; in pursuit of pleasure or avoidance of pain, I think we need to look into the latter aspect a lot more.
Great post Adam, enjoy reading your stuff, just wish you interacted a bit more.
Tip!