The Wealth of Nations

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An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations, usually referred to by its shortened title The Wealth of Nations, is a book by Scottish economist and moral philosopher Adam Smith. Published on 9 March 1776 as Smith's central intellectual project, the treatise sought to examine and explain the underlying political and economic principles by which commercial and industrial societies generate wealth. It has become a fundamental work in classical economics, and been described as "the first formulation of a comprehensive system of political economy". Smith radically transformed economic thought, laying the foundations for policies that would produce unprecedented increases in productivity and wealth. By the eighteenth century, much of the emerging world economy was dominated by the feudal and mercantilist institutions of the European powers. In Europe itself, feudalism still shaped economic life through hereditary privilege, guilds, and restrictions on labour and commerce, while...

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