Smith, Adam. The Wealth of Nations (Excerpts).
Modified from the Modern History Internet Sourcebook. 1776. Fordham University.
http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/mod/adamsmith-summary.asp (accessed September 18,
2013).
This excerpt of Adam Smith’s The Wealth of Nations explains Smith’s
theories on the division of labor and the invisible hand of the free market.
Adam Smith was a Scottish political economist in the eighteenth century, author
of many acclaimed books about economics, a graduate of Oxford University, and a
professor and dean of moral philosophy at the University of Glasgow. Smith also
met Voltaire, Jean-Jacques Rousseau, and
other Enlightenment thinkers that inspired his philosophies. He is also known
as the father of capitalism. In this excerpt, Smith is trying to convince the
reader of the benefits of a free market economy and explain how it works. This
document was written in 1776; a time when the American Revolution was ending
and the French Revolution was starting and people wanted freedom and no
absolute ruler. In the excerpt, Smith explains how division of labor benefits
the economy. It allows the production of goods to be more efficient and people
to do more work because of the invention of machines and factories. He also
explains how self-interest balances the economy by driving people to produce
goods in a higher demand. He says that this supply and demand is only possible
with division of labor. Adam Smith convinces the reader of the benefits of
division of labor by using many examples and positive language.
*The second line of the
citation and the entire annotation should be indented.
No comments:
Post a Comment