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Front Page  Titles (by Subject) Adam Smith
Search this person’s writing:Adam Smith1723 - 1790About the Author
Adam Smith (1723-1790) is commonly regarded as the first modern economist with the publication in 1776 of The Wealth of Nations. He wrote in a wide range of disciplines: moral philosophy, jurisprudence, rhetoric and literature, and the history of science. He was one of the leading figures in the Scottish Enlightenment. Smith also studied the social forces giving rise to competition, trade, and markets. While professor of logic, and later professor of moral philosophy at Glasgow University, he also had the opportunity to travel to France, where he met François Quesnay and the physiocrats; he had friends in business and the government, and drew broadly on his observations of life as well as careful statistical work summarizing his findings in tabular form. He is viewed as the founder of modern economic thought, and his work inspires economists to this day. The economic phrase for which he is most famous, the “invisible hand” of economic incentives, was only one of his many contributions to the modern-day teaching of economics. [The image comes from “The Warren J. Samuels Portrait Collection at Duke University.”]
For additional information about Adam Smith see the following:
In The Library:
Quotations:- Adam Smith on the natural ordering Tendency of Free Markets, or what he called the “Invisible Hand” (1776) (20 January, 2010)
- Adam Smith on the Dangers of sacrificing one’s Liberty for the supposed benefits of the “lordly servitude of a court” (1759) (20 January, 2010)
- Adam Smith on the “Wonder, Surprise, and Admiration” one feels when contemplating the physical World (1795) (20 January, 2010)
- Adam Smith on the Sympathy one feels for those Vanquished in a battle rather than for the Victors (1762) (20 January, 2010)
- Adam Smith on the rigorous education of young Fitzmaurice (1759) (20 January, 2010)
- Adam Smith on how Government Regulation and Taxes might drive a Man to Drink (1766) (20 January, 2010)
- Adam Smith argued that the “propensity to truck, barter, and exchange” was inherent in human nature and gave rise to things such as the division of labour (1776) (4 April, 2005)
- Adam Smith argues that the Habeas Corpus Act is a great security against the tyranny of the king (1763) (14 November, 2005)
- Adam Smith notes that colonial governments might exercise relative freedom in the metropolis but impose tyranny in the distant provinces (1776) (19 June, 2006)
- Adam Smith observes that the true costs of war remain hidden from the taxpayers because they are sheltered in the metropole far from the fighting and instead of increasing taxes the government pays for the war by increasing the national debt (1776) (18 February, 2008)
- Adam Smith claims that exorbitant taxes imposed without consent of the governed constitute legitimate grounds for the people to resist their rulers (1763) (11 August, 2008)
- Adam Smith argues that retaliation in a trade war can sometimes force the offending country to lower its tariffs, but more often than not the reverse happens (1776) (9 February, 2009)
- Adam Smith on the greater productivity brought about by the division of labor and technological innovation (1760s) (6 June, 2011)
- Adam Smith on how governments learn from each other the best way of draining money from the pockets of the people (1776) (14 December, 2011)
- Adam Smith on the ridiculousness of romantic love (1759) (14 February, 2012)
- Adam Smith on how “furious monopolists” will fight to the bitter end to keep their privileges (1776) (24 March, 2012)
- Adam Smith on compulsory attendance in the classroom (1776) (18 July, 2012)
- Adam Smith on social change and “the man of system” (1759) (7 December, 2012)
- Adam Smith debunks that idea that when it comes to public debt “we owe it to ourselves” (1776) (10 April, 2013)
- Adam Smith on the need for “peace, easy taxes, and a tolerable administration of justice” (1755) (14 May, 2013)
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