Learn more about Adam Smith

Adam Smith (1723-90) was born in Fife and educated at Glasgow and Oxford universities. In 1746 he moved to Edinburgh and earned his living as a lecturer in moral philosophy.

'Man is an animal that makes bargains; no other animal does this, - one dog does not change a bone with another.’

Adam Smith

He became friends with Adam Ferguson, William Robertson and other literati of the Scottish Enlightenment. He was Professor of Logic at Glasgow University from 1751 to 64.

'No benevolent man ever lost altogether the fruits of his benevolence.’

Adam Smith

Developing his ideas about economics

Adam Smith travelled to Paris, Geneva and Toulouse, meeting with leading thinkers of the Age of Reason, including D’Alembert, Turgot, Mirabeau and Voltaire.

After his travels he returned to Edinburgh and worked as a commissioner of customs from 1778. He was also elected Rector of Glasgow University in 1787.

'Little else is requisite to carry a state to the highest degree of opulence from the lowest barbarism but peace, easy taxes, and a tolerable administration of justice: all the rest being brought about by the natural course of things.’

Adam Smith

'The Wealth of Nations'

Smith’s greatest work was 'The Wealth of Nations', published in 1776, one of the few works in its field to achieve classic status.

In this book he expressed the view that governments should not interfere with free-market practices: this theory is the basis of capitalism, and of much modern economics.

‘The uniform, constant and uninterrupted effort of every man to better his condition, the principle from which public and national, as well as private opulence is originally derived, is frequently powerful enough to maintain the natural progress of things toward improvement, in spite both of the extravagance of government, and of the greatest errors of administration.’

Adam Smith

'The Wealth of Nations' expounds that the free market, while appearing chaotic and unrestrained, is actually guided to produce the right amount and variety of goods by a so-called 'invisible hand'.

Smith believed that when individuals pursue their self-interest, they promote the good of society more than if they actually intend to benefit society. For example, self-interested competition in the market would make an individual company keep their prices low, and encourage the production of a wide variety of goods, thus benefiting all consumers.