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Im 15 and wanted to read this book. Its okay in some parts, but almost all of it i have to reread a few times to get what its saying.then i would forget. Ill try reading it when im older. 16 or 17
Describing this edition as unabridged is insulting and disingenuous.Adam Smith is a thinker of the first order. The first volume is divided into books I, II and III, the second into books IV and V. The complete, unabridged penguin edition of this book is around 900 pages long and is divided into 2 volumes. But he was writing in the second half of the eighteenth century. These two last books comprise more than half of the bulk of the whole work, more than 500 pages. They also contain the aspects of Economics in which Smith believed personal interests must be balanced by social responsibility. This must always be kept in mind, as the values he held may find themselves appropriated in ways he then did not understand, and if alive today may have disagreed with. He was a moral philosopher before he was an economist, and his works in both fields can only be fully understood in light of one another.
The Wealth of Nations by Adam Smith is the economic principles of freedom. This is the economic principles that our Founding Fathers' followed to make the USA one of the wealthiest nations in the history of the world. Unfortunately, Keynesian economics theories have replaced freedom-loving economic policies that have lead to the USA's economic downfall. The Wealth of Nations will teach the economic principles that need to be reinstated in order to make the USA great again.
In the home trade, his capital is never so long out of his sight as it frequently is in the foreign trade of consumption. The Physiocrats saw the true wealth of a nation as determined by the surplus of agricultural production over and above that needed to support agriculture (by feeding farm labourers and so forth). Thus, upon equal, or nearly equal profits, every wholesale merchant naturally prefers the home trade to the foreign trade of consumption, and the foreign trade of consumption to the carrying trade. After reading this book, I have found out that Adam Smith did use the term "invisible hand" only once in the entire book, in the discussion of domestic versus foreign trade.To illustrate the point, let me quote the text where term "invisible hand" is used: "First, every individual endeavours to employ his capital as near home as he can, and consequently as much as he can in the support of domestic industry, provided always that he can thereby obtain the ordinary, or not a great deal less than the ordinary profits of stock. This book is so widely cited and interpreted contrary to the author's original thought, that every economist should read it completely to avoid being misled by such incorrect interpretations.First, let us take the "invisible hand" metaphor. This is a must read for every economist. Nor is it always the worse for the society that it was no part of it."After reading this book, I have found out that Adam Smith was influenced by French Physiocrats. By preferring the support of domestic to that of foreign industry, he intends only his own security; and by directing that industry in such a manner as its produce may be of the greatest value, he intends only his own gain; and he is in this, as in many other cases, led by an invisible hand to promote an end which was no part of his intention.
While these manufacturers and other non agricultural workers may be useful, they were seen as 'sterile' in that their income derives ultimately not from their own work, but from the surplus production of the agricultural sector.I have found out that this book is not about "invisible hand" or "Laissez-faire". [.].As every individual, therefore, endeavours as much as he can, both to employ his capital in the support of domestic industry, and so to direct that industry that its produce maybe of the greatest value; every individual necessarily labours to render the annual revenue of the society as great as he can. When I have studied economy in the University, I was taught that almost the entire book is devoted to the "invisible hand" which means "self-corrective markets", "liberalism", "Laissez-faire" and "state non-intervention". Other forms of economic activity, such as manufacturing, were viewed as taking this surplus agricultural production and transforming it into new products, by using the surplus agricultural production to feed the workers who produced the extra goods. [.].Secondly, every individual who employs his capital in the support of domestic industry, necessarily endeavours so to direct that industry, that its produce may be of the greatest possible value. He generally, indeed, neither intends to promote the public interest, nor knows how much he is promoting it. It is quite a complete study that covers almost every basic aspect of the economy, and remains an effective introduction to economics to this day.This book is so often mischaracterized and politicized that I suggest you to read it completely by yourself. You can get an audio version of this book to avoid lengthy read.
This is despite the fact that it is only about 70 pages long. The first three "books" (the term for "chapters" in Smith's age) of the Wealth of Nations are the most important of the book. The introductory essay by the Smithologist Skinner also provides great insight into the book per se, Adam Smith and how Wealth of Nations fits into Smith's other works. THis essay is much more enlightening than many books on either Smith or the Wealth of Nations. The price of the book is worth that essay alone.
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