Jason Ewing                                                                                The Works of Adam Smith                          Case Study                     

9/30/13

Bibliography 

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 30, 2013).

In the writing The Wealth of Nations, by Adam Smith who writes about the basis of the free market system. He was considered the "Father of Capitalism" since he created the system of Capitalism.  Adam Smith was born in Kirkcaldy, Scotland. He was educated from a young age and when he got older he attended the University of Glasgow and Oxford University.  While attending Oxford University Smith became interested in the study of society. After Smith met Charles Townshed he acquired a job of being a tutor in France. While in France Smith met Rousseau and Voltaire the famous enlightenment thinkers and gained an interest in moral philosophy and political economy through them.  Smith had the motivation to write the Wealth of Nations since he thought that his setup of capitalism was a successful and self driven system.  In the Wealth of Nations he goes over many of his theories such as the "laissez faire", and the division of labor.  In the "laissez faire" it discouraged the interference of the government in the economic system since it would affect the self regulating free market.  Smith goes over the division of labor; he mentions that in a situation where more people are working together is more productive than one person doing the work on their own. Smith uses the example of of people making pins. He says that when people are working together that they could make 12 pounds of pins a day with four hundred thousand pins in each pound.  If there was only one man working alone Smith mentions that only one pin could be made a day. When the demand goes up the factories will be able to supply this demand using the division of labor idea.  Smith's The Wealth of Nations helped shaped our economy to how we know it today.






  

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