Adam Smith

Adam Smith was a Scottish moral philosopher and economist, generally regarded as the founding figure of classical economics. His 1776 book An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations examined how competitive markets, driven by individual self interest and coordinated through the price system, tend to produce outcomes that benefit society broadly without requiring central direction, an idea later summarized as the operation of an invisible hand. Smith also wrote extensively on the division of labor as a source of productivity gains, and he argued against mercantilist trade restrictions in favor of freer exchange between nations. Before turning fully to economics he had already established a reputation as a moral philosopher with his 1759 book The Theory of Moral Sentiments, and the relationship between that earlier work and his later economic writing remains a subject of ongoing scholarly discussion.