Product Description

Political economy had been studied long before Adam Smith. But "Wealth of Nations" (1776) established it for the first time as a separate science. Smith based his arguments on vast historical knowledge, and developed his principles with remarkable clarity. What set this work apart was its statement of the doctrine of natural liberty. Smith believed that 'man's self-interest is God's providence' - that if government abstained from interfering with free competition, the invisible hand of capitalism would emerge from the competing claims of individual self-interest. Industrial problems would be resolved and maximum efficiency reached. After more than two centuries, Smith's work still stands as the best statement and defence of the fundamental principles of capitalism.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #180645 in Books
• Published on: 1991-12
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 590 pages

Features

• ISBN13: 9780879757052
• Condition: NEW
• Notes: Brand New from Publisher. No Remainder Mark.
• Click here to view our Condition Guide and Shipping Prices

Review
"Adam Smith's enormous authority resides, in the end, in the same property that we discover in Marx: not in any ideology, but in an effort to see to the bottom of things."
--Robert L. Heilbroner


From the Trade Paperback edition. -- Review

Review
"Adam Smith's enormous authority resides, in the end, in the same property that we discover in Marx: not in any ideology, but in an effort to see to the bottom of things."
--Robert L. Heilbroner


From the Trade Paperback edition.

From the Inside Flap
Introduction by D. D. Raphael

Customer Reviews

The Great Minds Series version has parts missing!
I was origionally reading the text version of this book on the internet until the printed version came. I was downtroden, sickened, and even frightened to find that the Great Minds Series version of The Wealth of Nations is incomplete, yet gives no indication whatsoever of being so.

The introduction and chapters 2, 3, and 4 of book 3 are simply not there. They are not even listed in the table of contents. There is no discrepency in the page numbers, or any other teletale indication that it is incomplete. It is not written anywhere that it is an abrigement.

I want to point out how careless it is and how misleading to the reader in comprehending the philosophy of Adam Smith to print an incomplete book without any warning.

Watch Out!
I have no criticism with Adam Smith's "Wealth of Nations." My criticism is with the Great Minds Series edition of the book. The Great Minds Series is an abridged version. Huge chunks have been edited out of the book, yet nowhere do they let you know this before making the purchase. I bought this book specifically because I wanted to cite it, and I can't because the parts I wanted to quote have been edited out.

Adam Smith's "Wealth of Nations" is a worthy book for any private library, but purchase an edition other than the one offered by the so-called "Great Minds Series."

How to lift a nation out of poverty
Adam Smith's Wealth of Nations brilliantly analyzes how a nation's living standards can be raised. In large part his wisdom still applies today. To briefly summarize Smith's thinking:

1. Standards of living are determined by the productivity of workers.

2. Productivity of workers is greatly enhanced by specialization (see the famous example of the pin factory in the first chapter!).

3. Greater specialization is possible only if the market size grows. Thus, government laws that prohibit growth of the market hurt specialization, and thereby keep living standards from rising. This is why Smith opposed laws that restricted trade or created monopolies. Smith actively worked to keep Britain from going to war against its American colonies over trade issues. The Wealth of Nations is a political tract designed to sway the British parliament (obviously it failed in that regard).

4. Productivity of workers is enhanced by raising their wages.

5. Productivity of workers is enhanced by publicly funded education.

6. The role of markets is exquisitely analyzed by Smith. Self-interest leads people to carry out private activities that lead to social betterment, as if by an "invisible hand."

7. It is a serious misinterpretation of Smith to assert that greed or selfishness is the same as self-interest. Smith labored hard to avoid any such confusion. Please see his other book which addresses this specific issue: The Theory of Moral Sentiments.

8. Clearly Smith favored limited government. But Smith was NOT a strict advocate of laissez-faire. He ended his illustrious career as commissioner of customs, a job he took seriously, and which he would not have taken had he not thought this level of intervention in the economy warranted.

Read the first three chapters of WN: they contain the essence of the arguments above. Then look in the index to find reference to the "invisible hand" "monopoly" "colonies" and other subjects of interest.

Buy the GLASGOW EDITION of the Wealth of Nations. This is the most up-to-date annotated version. It is available (very cheaply) from the Liberty Fund Press in America. If you only want one copy, that is the only one to buy today.