The Wealth of Nations by Adam Smith
To coincide with the 300th anniversary of Adam Smith’s birth, we’re highlighting his masterpiece “The Wealth of Nations” which endured a 17 year gestation period including extensive conversations with contemporary economists such as Nicholas Magens.
The result is a masterpiece that frames so many aspects of society, the industrial revolution and more in a readable format which endures in its insights to this day thanks to its practical application of a reformed economic theory to replace the mercantilist and physiocratic economic theories that were becoming outmoded as the enlightenment was powered by industrial change driving societal improvement for all.
The Wealth of Nations does for economics what Immanuel Kant's Critique of Pure Reason achieved for philosophy.
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