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Adam Smith: Wealth of Nations
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Guide Note:Adam Smith was an economist and philosopher who developed the foundation for today's theories of free market economics. His best known work is An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations.
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In The Wealth of Nations, Adam Smith raised key questions for the economic analysis of religion and looked at the effects of competition among religions and the dangers of government of religion. Just 100 years ago Max Weber published his provocative work The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism.
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"Over on Adam Smith’s Lost Legacy, Gavin Kennedy is fighting an infinite one man losing battle against the misattribution of the ‘invisible hand of the market’ doctrine to Adam Smith. Smith only used the phrase, Kennedy tirelessly asserts and reasserts, one time in ‘The Wealth of Nations’ – not discussing the market in general, but discussing an individual’s decision to invest in the domestic economy, rather than in riskier foreign ventures. Here’s the famous quote:
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By analogy with Say's Law, one of the most important ideas in Adam Smith's Wealth of Nations might be proposed as "Smith's Law": That the purpose of production is consumption [note]. While this might be so obvious as to seem self-evident, as Smith says himself above, there is ... often a very different principle that occurs in political and economic discourse: That the purpose of production is to provide a livelihood for the producers. While this is certainly a positive externality of production, it becomes a disastrous principle when the value of production as a source of livelihood begins to be given precedence over the value of production for consumption. Such a dangerous and damaging principle to the progress of human wealth and happiness might be called the "principle of feudal tenure," even though it was an affliction of feudalism, as it is of capitalism, rather than anything original and essential to it.
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Adam Smith was born in Kirkcaldy, Fife, Scotland. The exact date of his birth is unknown... he was baptized on June 5, 1723. Smith was the Scottish philosopher who became famous for his book, "The Wealth of Nations" written in 1776, which had a profound influence on modern economics and concepts of individual freedom.
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A popular lecturer, Smith ... wrote many essays and articles on such diverse topics as literature, justice, health, and welfare. In 1764 he left Glasgow to accompany the Duke of Buccleuch on his travels through Europe as his tutor. Upon his return he started work on The Wealth of Nations which would resound for decades to come and affect changes for contemporary economic policy in the Western world. In 1778 he settled in Edinburgh, Scotland as Commissioner of Customs. Five years later he was a founding member of the Royal Society of Edinburgh. He died on 17 July 1790 and lies buried in the Canongate Churchyard, Royal Mile, Edinburgh, Scotland.
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Wealth of Nations