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.

See also our collection of extracts, essays, and other resources on Smith.

See also our sister site, AdamSmithWorks.

See the Liberty Matters online discussions on Smith, Hume, and Burke as Policy Liberals and Polity Conservatives and What Adam Smith Means to Me

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
• Adam Smith notes that colonial governments might exercise relative freedom in the metropolis but impose tyranny in the distant provinces
• Adam Smith argues that the Habeas Corpus Act is a great security against the tyranny of the king
• Adam Smith, Employment, and the Advantages to Society
• Adam Smith on Religion and the Rules of Morality
• Adam Smith on money as an instrument of commerce as well as a measure of value
• Adam Smith on Happiness, Tranquility, and Enjoyment
• Adam Smith, Selfishness, and Sympathy
• Adam Smith on Inequality Between the Rich and the Poor
• 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
• Adam Smith on Admiration of the Rich and Powerful
• Adam Smith on how Government Regulation and Taxes might drive a Man to Drink
• Adam Smith on the rigorous education of young Fitzmaurice
• Adam Smith on the Sympathy one feels for those Vanquished in a battle rather than for the Victors
• Adam Smith on the “Wonder, Surprise, and Admiration” one feels when contemplating the physical World
• Adam Smith on the Dangers of sacrificing one’s Liberty for the supposed benefits of the “lordly servitude of a court”
• Adam Smith on the natural ordering Tendency of Free Markets, or what he called the “Invisible Hand
• Adam Smith and our Propensity to Deceive
• Adam Smith and Loveliness
• Adam Smith and the Uniform Quest for Betterment
• Adam Smith on the Nature of Money and Wealth
• Adam Smith on Men of Public Spirit

Titles from Adam Smith:

• Author: British Moralists vol. 1
• Author: An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations (Cannan ed.), in 2 vols.
• Author: An Inquiry Into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations (Cannan ed.), vol. 1
• Author: An Inquiry Into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations (Cannan ed.), vol. 2
• 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.)