Adam Smith
1723–1790
Nationality: Scottish
Historical Period: The 18th Century
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.”]
See also our collection of extracts, essays, and other resources on Smith.
See also our sister site, AdamSmithWorks.
See the Liberty Matters online discussion on Smith, Hume, and Burke as Policy Liberals and Polity Conservatives
For additional information about Adam Smith see the following:
- Essays on Adam Smith
- Timeline on the Life and Work of Adam Smith
- in the Library: the classic Life of Adam Smith by John Rae
- at our sister website Econlib: the Concise Encyclopedia of Economics entry on Adam Smith
- in the Goodrich Seminar Room: Adam Smith
Watch the OLL Video Adam Smith and the Wealth of Nations
Quotes from Adam Smith:
- Adam Smith on retaliation in a trade war
- Adam Smith on the propensity to truck, barter, and exchange
- Adam Smith on the legitimacy of using force to ensure justice
- Adam Smith on the illegitimacy of using force to promote beneficence
- Adam Smith on political candidates acting as if they are above the law
- Adam Smith on the dangers of faction and privilege seeking
- Adam Smith on why people obey/defer to rulers
- Adam Smith on the “liberal system” of free trade
- Adam Smith on Slavery
- Adam Smith debunks that idea that when it comes to public debt “we owe it to ourselves”
- Adam Smith on the need for “peace, easy taxes, and a tolerable administration of justice”
- Adam Smith on social change and “the man of system”
- Adam Smith on compulsory attendance in the classroom
- Adam Smith on how “furious monopolists” will fight to the bitter end to keep their privileges
- Adam Smith on the ridiculousness of romantic love
- Adam Smith on how governments drain money from their citizens
- Adam Smith on the greater productivity brought about by the division of labor and technological innovation
- Adam Smith on who colleges and universities ACTUALLY benefit
- Adam Smith, Patriotism, and the Welfare of Our Fellow Citizens
- Adam Smith on Good Wine and Free Trade
- Adam Smith on the Butcher, the Brewer, and the Baker
- Adam Smith claims that exorbitant taxes imposed without consent constitute legitimate grounds for the people to resist their rulers
- Adam Smith observes that the true costs of war remain hidden from the taxpayers
- Adam Smith on consumption as the only end and purpose of production
Titles from Adam Smith:
- Author: BOLL 7: Adam Smith, “On Free Trade” (1776)
- Author: BOLL 39: Adam Smith, “Of the Character of Virtue” (1759)
- Author: The Glasgow Edition of the Works and Correspondence of Adam Smith, 7 vols.
- Author: An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations (Cannan ed.), in 2 vols.
- Author: Lectures on Justice, Police, Revenue and Arms (1763)
- Author: Theory of Moral Sentiments and Essays on Philosophical Subjects (1869)
- Author: The Theory of Moral Sentiments and on the Origins of Languages (Stewart ed.)