Adam Smith

Will Trevor Luke

1-5-10

Adam Smith
1723-1790
Scotland

Major Work: The Wealth of Nations



Key Ideas:
-Self Interest: provides incentive for economic improvement; benefits             everyone, not just self

-Free Market: provides competition, which stabilizes the economy, less       govt. regulation

-Invisible Hand: self-regulation of the marketplace

 

Other Notes:
-American Colonies not worth keeping (for the British) because they were  self sufficient, didn't need the British
-Didn't want education regulation
-Opposed to slavery


Legacy:
-Some of his ideas sparked theories of comparative advantage (one country can produce a product with lower opportunity than another country)
-His economic thinking provided a foundation for classical economics
-The economies of many modern countries rely on his basic ideas of self         interest in a free market