Building the Wealth of Nations

Mitch Addison, 28

In the last article, the lives of Karl Marx and his partner in crime, Friedrich Engels, were discussed. Likewise, the origins of Marxism were also unveiled. However, it would be wrong to discuss Marx without bringing up his alter ego, Adam Smith.

Adam Smith’s exact date of birth is not known, although it is believed to have been around 1723, the year that he was baptized. This is known because the Church kept records of his baptism, and it is used as his birthdate. His father was involved in finance of customs at Kirkcaldy, a small but thriving fishing village just outside of Edinburgh. When he turned fourteen, he enrolled at the University of Glasgow, an important center of what would later become the Scottish Enlightenment. While there he was greatly influenced by Francis Hutchinson, a professor on moral philosophy at Glasgow. Although Smith would move on from his former professor’s economic and political views, Hutchinson’s character would play a potent role in his development. Following his graduation in 1740, Smith won a scholarship to Oxford. Smith was largely disappointed with Oxford, feeling it was not as interesting when compared to Glasgow. Smith eventually returned home and got a job to give a series of public lectures in Edinburgh. His lectures ranged from rhetoric to history to economics, and made a deep impression on the many people that listened. This was one of Smith’s most creative and intellectually rewarding portions of his life.

Smith would publish his first work, The Theory of Moral Sentiments, in 1759. It is believed to have laid the psychological foundation for the Wealth of Nations, Adam’s other great work, although scholars argue over the two works’ connection to each other. The Theory of Moral Sentiments was about the principles of human nature, which he believed were unchanging facts from which institutions and social behavior could be understood and built. The question of how moral judgements, including one's own actions, were made. Smith’s theory involved the presence of an “inner man” in each person acting as a spectator who is in favor of or against their own actions and the actions of others. Smith also wrote about how humans are creatures of passion but are regulated by their ability to reason and sympathize with others. This shows up later in the Wealth of Nations, where he claims the rich are led by an invisible hand without knowing it is taking them to places where society shall benefit.

Adams then got a job tutoring for a young duke in France. While in France he met notable French philosophers, such as Voltaire. This would have a notable impact on Smith’s Wealth of Nations, which he was writing while he was not tutoring the duke. His time in Paris, however, ended rather quickly after the younger brother of the duke died due to an illness. Smith then returned to the British Isles, where he continued his work on the Wealth of Nations until he finally finished and published it in 1776. In his famed book, Smith explained how the market was self-adjusting, would experience growth as long as it is not forcefully inhibited, and he advocated for laissez-faire economics, which is a form of economics that promotes minimal government intervention in the market and economic affairs of the people. There is far more that Smith discussed in the book, most of which was inspired from his travels in Europe and lessons learned from his former teachers and fellow scholars.

Smith was a man that has been lost to history. Most of his private life is shrouded in mystery, and a majority of his personal papers and unwritten works are lost or destroyed. He never married and most illustrations are no longer in existence. Details from his former students from Edinburgh show that he was well known amongst the univarsity, and they also offered a chance to learn a little more about the man named Adam Smith, such as his slight stumbling over words when speaking and seemingly absent mind. Outside of this, Adam Smith has gone down in history as one of the greatest economic thinkers of his time, with many of his works remaining important to this day.