Adam_Smith

{{Otherpeople|Adam Smith}}
{{Infobox_Philosopher |


region = Western Philosophers |
era = [[18th century philosophy]] (Modern Philosophy) |
color = #B0C4DE |
image_name = AdamSmith.jpg |
image_caption = Adam Smith |


name = Adam Smith|
birth = [[June 5]]<ref name="one">{{Cite web|url=http://www.liberalhistory.org.uk/item_single.php?item_id=37&item=biography|title=Biography of Smith|accessyear=2007|accessmonthday=September 10|publisher=Liberal Democrat History Group|year=1997|author=Robert Falkner|language=English}}</ref> [[1723]] (baptism) [[Kirkcaldy]], [[Scotland]]|
death = {{death date and age|1790|7|17|1723|6|16}} [[Edinburgh]], [[Scotland]] |
school_tradition = [[Classical economics]] |
main_interests = [[Political philosophy]], [[ethics]], [[economics]] |
influences = [[Aristotle]], [[Thomas Hobbes|Hobbes]], [[John Locke|Locke]], [[Bernard de Mandeville|Mandeville]], [[Francis Hutcheson (philosopher)|Hutcheson]], [[David Hume|Hume]], [[Baron de Montesquieu|Montesquieu]], [[François Quesnay|Quesnay]] |
influenced = [[Thomas Malthus|Malthus]], [[David Ricardo|Ricardo]], [[John Stuart Mill|Mill]], [[John Maynard Keynes|Keynes]], [[Milton Friedman|Friedman]], [[Karl Marx|Marx]], [[Friedrich Engels|Engels]], [[Founding Fathers of the United States|American Founding Fathers]], [[Noam Chomsky|Chomsky]], [[Auguste Comte]] |
notable_ideas = [[Classical economics]], modern [[free market]], [[division of labour]], [[invisible hand]]|
}}
'''Adam Smith ''' (baptised [[June 5]] ([[Old Style|OS]]) / [[June 16]] ([[New Style|NS]]) [[1723]] – [[July 17]], [[1790]]) was a [[Scotland|Scottish]] [[Ethics|moral philosopher]] and a pioneering [[Political economy|political economist]]. One of the key figures of the intellectual movement known as the [[Scottish Enlightenment]], he is known primarily as the author of two treatises: ''[[The Theory of Moral Sentiments]]'' (1759), and ''[[The Wealth of Nations|An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations]]'' (1776). The latter was one of the earliest attempts to systematically study the historical development of industry and commerce in Europe, as well as a sustained attack on the doctrines of [[mercantilism]]. Smith's work helped to create the modern academic discipline of [[economics]] and provided one of the best-known intellectual rationales for [[free trade]], [[capitalism]], and [[libertarianism]].

==Biography==
Smith was a son of the controller of the customs at [[Kirkcaldy]], [[Fife]], [[Scotland]]. The exact date of Smith's birth is unknown, but he was baptized at Kirkcaldy on [[June 5]], [[1723]], his father having died some six months previously. At around the age of 4, he was kidnapped by a band of [[Roma people|Gypsies]], but he was quickly rescued by his uncle and returned to his mother. Smith's biographer, [[John Rae (biographer)|John Rae]], commented wryly that he feared Smith would have made "a poor Gypsy"<ref name="powell">
{{cite journal
|url=http://www.fee.org/publications/the-freeman/article.asp?aid=3001
|title=Adam Smith-'I had almost forgot that I was the author of the inquiry concerning The Wealth of Nations'
|last=Powell
|first=Jim
|publisher=Foundation for Economic Education
|journal=The Freeman
|volume=45
|issue=3
|date=March 1995
|accessdate=2008-1-1
}}
</ref>. There is no record of Smith having any siblings.

===Education===
At the age of fifteen, Smith entered the [[University of Glasgow]], where he studied moral philosophy under "''the never-to-be-forgotten ''" (as Smith called him) [[Francis Hutcheson (philosopher)|Francis Hutcheson]]. Here Smith developed his strong passion for [[liberty]], [[reason]], and [[free speech]]. In 1740 he was awarded the [[Snell exhibitioner|Snell Exhibition]] and entered [[Balliol College, Oxford]], but as William Robert Scott has said, "the [[University of Oxford|Oxford]] of his time gave little if any help towards what was to be his lifework," and he left the university in 1746. In Book V of ''[[The Wealth of Nations]]'', Smith comments on the low quality of instruction and the meager intellectual activity at English universities when compared to their Scottish counterparts. He attributed this both to the rich endowments of the colleges at Oxford and [[University of Cambridge|Cambridge]], which made the income of professors independent of their ability to attract students, and to the fact that distinguished men of letters could make an even more comfortable living as ministers of the [[Church of England]].

===Career in Edinburgh and Glasgow===
[[Image:David Hume.jpg|thumb|right|150px|[[David Hume]], friend of Adam Smith]]
In [[1748]] Smith began delivering public lectures in [[Edinburgh]] under the patronage of the [[Lord Kames]]. Some of these dealt with rhetoric and ''[[belles-lettres]]'', but later he took up the subject of "the progress of opulence," and it was then, in his middle or late 20s, that he first expounded the economic philosophy of "the obvious and simple system of natural liberty" which he was later to proclaim to the world in his ''[[The Wealth of Nations|Wealth of Nations]]''. In about 1750 he met the philosopher [[David Hume]], who was his senior by over a decade. The alignments of opinion that can be found within the details of their respective writings covering history, politics, philosophy, economics, and religion indicate that they both shared a closer intellectual alliance and friendship than with the others who were to play important roles during the emergence of what has come to be known as the [[Scottish Enlightenment]]<ref>Donald Winch, ‘Smith, Adam (bap. 1723, d. 1790) ’, Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, Sept 2004</ref>; he frequented [[The Poker Club]] of [[Edinburgh]].

In [[1751]] Smith was appointed chair of [[logic]] at the University of Glasgow, transferring in 1752 to the [[Professor of Moral Philosophy, Glasgow|Chair of Moral Philosophy]], once occupied by his famous teacher, [[Francis Hutcheson (philosopher)|Francis Hutcheson]]. His lectures covered the fields of [[ethics]], [[rhetoric]], [[jurisprudence]], [[political economy]], and "police and revenue". In 1759 he published his ''[[The Theory of Moral Sentiments]]'', embodying some of his [[Glasgow]] lectures. This work, which established Smith's reputation in his day, was concerned with how human communication depends on sympathy between agent and spectator (that is, the individual and other members of society). His analysis of language evolution was somewhat superficial, as shown only 14 years later by a more rigorous examination of primitive language evolution by [[Lord Monboddo]] in his ''Of the Origin and Progress of Language''<ref>Cloyd, E.L.: ''"[[James Burnett, Lord Monboddo]]"'', pp 64-66. Oxford University Press, 1972</ref>. Smith's capacity for fluent, persuasive, if rather rhetorical argument, is much in evidence. He bases his explanation not, as the third Lord Shaftesbury and Hutcheson had done, on a special "moral sense"; nor, as Hume did, on [[utilitarianism|utility]]; but on sympathy.

Smith now began to give more attention to jurisprudence and economics in his lecture and less to his theories of morals. An impression can be obtained as to the development of his ideas on political economy from the notes of his lectures taken down by a student in about 1763 which were later edited by [[Edwin Cannan]]<ref>''"Lectures on Justice, Police, Revenue and Arms"'', 1896</ref>, and from what Scott, its discoverer and publisher, describes as "An Early Draft of Part of The Wealth of Nations", which he dates about 1763. Cannan's work appeared as ''Lectures on Justice, Police, Revenue and Arms''. A fuller version was published as [[Lectures on Jurisprudence]] in the Glasgow Edition of 1776.

===Tour of France===
[[Image:Kirkcaldy High Street Adam Smith Plaque.png|thumb|right|200px|Commemorative plaque at [[Kirkcaldy]]]]
In 1762 the academic senate of the [[University of Glasgow]] conferred on Smith the title of [[Doctor of laws]] (LL.D.). At the end of 1763, he obtained a lucrative offer from [[Charles Townshend]] (who had been introduced to Smith by [[David Hume]]), to tutor his stepson, the young [[Henry Scott, 3rd Duke of Buccleuch|Duke of Buccleuch]]. Smith subsequently resigned from his professorship and from 1764-66 traveled with his pupil, mostly in [[France]], where he came to know intellectual leaders such as [[Anne Robert Jacques Turgot, Baron de Laune|Turgot]], [[Jean le Rond d'Alembert|Jean D'Alembert]], [[André Morellet]], [[Helvétius]] and, in particular, [[Francois Quesnay]], the head of the [[physiocrats|Physiocratic school]] whose work he respected greatly. On returning home to Kirkcaldy Smith was elected fellow of the [[Royal Society]] of [[London]] and he devoted much of the next ten years to his ''magnum opus'', ''[[The Wealth of Nations]],'' which appeared in 1776. The book was very well received and made its author famous.

===Later years===
In 1778 Smith was appointed to a post as commissioner of customs in Scotland and went to live with his mother in Edinburgh. In 1783 he became one of the founding members of the [[Royal Society of Edinburgh]] and from 1787 to 1789 he occupied the honorary position of Lord [[Rector of the University of Glasgow]]. He died in Edinburgh on July 17, 1790, after a painful illness and was buried in the [[Canongate Kirkyard]].

Smith's literary executors were two old friends from the Scottish academic world; the physicist and chemist [[Joseph Black]], and the pioneering geologist [[James Hutton]]. Smith left behind many notes and some unpublished material, but gave instructions to destroy anything that was not fit for publication. He mentioned an early unpublished ''History of Astronomy'' as probably suitable, and it duly appeared in 1795, along with other material, as ''[[Essays on Philosophical Subjects]]''. Contemporary followers of Adam Smith include [[John Millar]].

[[Image:Adam Smith.jpg|right|thumb|Adam Smith]]
===Personal character and views ===
Not much is known about Smith's personal views beyond what can be deduced from his published works. All of his personal papers were destroyed after his death. He never married and seems to have maintained a close relationship with his mother, with whom he lived after his return from France and who predeceased him by only six years. Contemporary accounts describe Smith as an eccentric but benevolent intellectual, comically absent minded, with peculiar habits of speech and gait and a smile of "inexpressible benignity."<ref name="lib">{{Cite web|url=http://www.econlib.org/library/YPDBooks/Rae/raeLS17.html#Chapter%2017|title=Chapter XVII - London|accessyear=2007|accessmonthday=September 10|publisher=Liberty Fund|author=Liberty Fund|work=Ch. 17|language=English}}</ref> His patience and tact are said to have been valuable to his work as a university administrator at Glasgow. After his death it was discovered that much of his income had been devoted to secret acts of charity.

There has been considerable scholarly debate about the nature of Adam Smith's religious views. Smith's father had a strong interest in Christianity<ref>Ross, Ian Simpson, ''The Life of Adam Smith'' page 15</ref> and belonged to the moderate wing of the [[Church of Scotland]] (the [[national church]] of Scotland since 1690). Smith may have gone to [[England]] with the intention of a career in the Church of England: this is controversial and depends on the status of the Snell Exhibition. At Oxford, Smith rejected Christianity and it is generally believed that he returned to Scotland as a [[Deism|Deist]].<ref>"When the time of his residence at Oxford expired, the question arose what line he was afterwards to pursue. He was destitute of patrimony and had not any turn for business. The Church seemed an improper profession, because he had early become a disciple of [[Voltaire]] in matters of religion." [[wikisource:Times obituary of Adam Smith|Times obituary of Adam Smith]]</ref>

Economist [[Ronald Coase]], however, has challenged the view that Smith was a Deist, stating that, whilst Smith may have referred to the "[[Great Architect of the Universe]]", other scholars have "very much exaggerated the extent to which Adam Smith was committed to a belief in a personal God". He based this on analysis of a remark in ''The Wealth of Nations'' where Smith writes that the curiosity of mankind about the "great phenomena of nature" such as "the generation, the life, growth and dissolution of plants and animals" has led men to "enquire into their causes". Coase notes Smith's observation that: "Superstition first attempted to satisfy this curiosity, by referring all those wonderful appearances to the immediate agency of the gods." Smith's close friend and colleague [[David Hume]], with whom he agreed on most matters, is usually described as an [[Atheist]], rather than a Deist.

==Works==
Shortly before his death, Smith had nearly all his manuscripts destroyed. In his last years he seemed to have been planning two major treatises, one on the theory and history of law and one on the sciences and arts. The posthumously published ''Essays on Philosophical Subjects'' (1795) probably contain parts of what would have been the latter treatise.

===Wealth of Nations===
[[Image:Wealth of Nations.jpg|thumb|right|200px|First page of the ''Wealth of Nations'', 1776 London edition]]
[[The Wealth of Nations]] was Smith's most influential work, and is considered to be very important in the creation of the field of economics and its development into an autonomous systematic discipline. In the Western world, it is arguably the most influential book on the subject ever published. When the book, which has become a classic manifesto against [[mercantilism]] (the theory that large reserves of [[bullion]] are essential for economic success), appeared in 1776, there was a strong sentiment for [[free trade]] in both Britain and America. This new feeling had been born out of the economic hardships and poverty caused by the American War of Independence. However, at the time of publication, not everybody was immediately convinced of the advantages of free trade: the British public and Parliament still clung to mercantilism for many years to come.

[[The Wealth of Nations]] also rejects the [[Physiocrat]]ic school's emphasis on the importance of land; instead, Smith believed labour was paramount, and that a [[division of labour]] would effect a great increase in production. One example he used was the making of pins. One worker could probably make only twenty pins per day. But if ten people divided up the eighteen steps required to make a pin, they could make a combined amount of 48,000 pins in one day. However, it is less well known that Smith also concluded that excessive division of labor would lead man to his most ignorant state possible. ''Nations'' was so successful, in fact, that it led to the abandonment of earlier economic schools, and later economists, such as [[Thomas Malthus]] and [[David Ricardo]], focused on refining Smith's theory into what is now known as [[classical economics]]. Both [[Modern economics]] and, separately, [[Marxian economics]] owe significantly to classical economics. Malthus expanded Smith's ruminations on [[overpopulation]], while Ricardo believed in the "[[iron law of wages]]" — that overpopulation would prevent wages from topping the subsistence level. Smith postulated an increase of wages with an increase in production, a view considered more accurate today.

One of the main points of [[The Wealth of Nations]] is 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|invisible hand]]" (an image that Smith had previously employed in ''Theory of Moral Sentiments,'' but which has its original use in his essay, "The History of Astronomy"). If a product shortage occurs, for instance, its price rises, creating a profit margin that creates an incentive for others to enter production, eventually curing the shortage. If too many producers enter the market, the increased [[competition]] among manufacturers and increased supply would lower the price of the product to its production cost, the "[[natural price]]". Even as profits are zeroed out at the "natural price," there would be incentives to produce goods and services, as all costs of production, including compensation for the owner's labour, are also built into the price of the goods. If prices dip below a zero profit, producers would drop out of the market; if they were above a zero profit, producers would enter the market. Smith believed that while human motives are often [[selfishness]] and [[Greed (emotion)|greed]], the competition in the free market would tend to benefit society as a whole by keeping prices low, while still building in an incentive for a wide variety of goods and services. Nevertheless, he was wary of businessmen and argued against the formation of [[monopoly|monopolies]].

Smith vigorously attacked the antiquated government restrictions which he thought were [[hinder]]ing industrial expansion. In fact, he attacked most forms of government interference in the economic process, including [[tariff]]s, arguing that this creates inefficiency and high prices in the long run. This theory, now referred to as "laissez-faire", which means "let them do" or more relevant to the study of economics, "let the market set supply and demand with no interference". It is believed that this theory influenced government legislation in later years, especially during the 19th century. (However this was not an [[Anarchism|anarchistic]] opposition to government. Smith advocated a Government that was active in sectors other than the economy: he advocated public education of poor adults; institutional systems that were not profitable for private industries; a judiciary; and a standing army.)

Two of the most famous and often-quoted passages in ''The Wealth of Nations'' are:

:''It is not from the benevolence of the butcher, the brewer, or the baker that we expect our dinner, but from their regard to their own interest. We address ourselves, not to their humanity but to their self-love, and never talk to them of our own necessities but of their advantages.''

:''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 may be of the greatest value; every individual necessarily labours to render the annual value of society as great as he can. He generally, indeed, neither intends to promote the public interest, nor knows how much he is promoting it. 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. Nor is it always the worse for the society that it was no part of it. By pursuing his own interest he frequently promotes that of society more effectually than when he really intends to promote it. I have never known much good done by those who affected to trade for the public good. It is an affectation, indeed, not very common among merchants, and very few words need be employed in dissuading them from it.''

Another favorite quote, usually recited by economists, also from ''The Wealth of Nations'' is:

:''People of the same trade seldom meet together, even for merriment and diversion, but the conversation ends in a conspiracy against the public, or in some contrivance to raise prices. It is impossible indeed to prevent such meetings, by any law which either could be executed, or would be consistent with liberty and justice. But though the law cannot hinder people of the same trade from sometimes assembling together, it ought to do nothing to facilitate such assemblies; much less to render them necessary.''

Smith is credited by economists as one of the first to advocate a progressive tax.<ref name="reich">
[http://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/washingtonpost/access/73816461.html?dids=73816461:73816461&FMT=ABS&FMTS=ABS:FT&date=Apr+26%2C+1987&author=Robert+B.+Reich&pub=The+Washington+Post+(pre-1997+Fulltext)&edition=&startpage=d.01&desc=Do+Americans+Still+Believe+In+Sharing+The+Burden%3F Do Americans Still Believe In Sharing The Burden?] Robert B. Reich, Washington Post , Apr 26, 1987</ref> Smith wrote, "It is not very unreasonable that the rich should contribute to the public expense, not only in proportion to their revenue, but something more in proportion."

A critical passage in ''The Wealth of Nations'' is:

:''The subjects of every state ought to contribute towards the support of the government, as nearly as possible, in proportion to their respective abilities; that is, in proportion to the revenue which they respectively enjoy under the protection of the state. The expense of government to the individuals of a great nation is like the expense of management to the joint tenants of a great estate, who are all obliged to contribute in proportion to their respective interests in the estate. In the observation or neglect of this maxim consists what is called the equality or inequality of taxation.''

Herbert Stein, in a frequently-quoted article, "Adam Smith did not wear an Adam Smith necktie," wrote that the people who wear the Adam Smith tie do it "to make a statement of their devotion to the idea of free markets and limited government. What stands out in WofN, however, is that their patron saint was not pure or doctrinaire about this idea. He viewed government intervention in the market with great skepticism. He regarded his exposition of the virtues of the free market as his main contribution to policy, and the purpose for which his economic analysis was developed.

"Yet he was prepared to accept or propose qualifications to that policy in the specific cases where he judged that their net effect would be beneficial and would not undermine the basically free character of the system," wrote Stein. "He did not wear the Adam Smith necktie." In Stein's reading, The Wealth of Nations could justify the Food and Drug Administration, The Consumer Product Safety Commission, mandatory employer health benefits, environmentalism, and "discriminatory taxation to deter improper or luxurious behavior."<ref>Adam Smith did not wear an Adam Smith necktie, Herbert Stein, Wall Street Journal, April 6, 1994</ref><ref name="tie">{{Cite web|url=http://progecon.wordpress.com/2006/06/09/adam-smith-did-not-wear-an-adam-smith-necktie/|title=Adam Smith did not wear an Adam Smith necktie|accessyear=2007|accessmonthday=September 10|publisher=progecon blog|year=2006|author=Marc Lee|language=English}}</ref>

==The "Adam Smith-Problem"==
{{liberalism}}
In the ''Wealth of Nations'' Smith claims that self-interest alone (in a proper institutional setting) can lead to socially beneficial results. But in his ''Theory of Moral Sentiments'' Smith argues that sympathy is required to achieve socially beneficial results. On the surface it appears that a contradiction exists. Economist August Oncken referred to this in German as ''[[:de:Adam-Smith-Problem|'das Adam-Smith-Problem']]''.<ref>August Oncken, "The Consistency of Adam Smith," The Economic Journal 7, no. 27 (1897): 444.</ref> [[Austria]]n economist [[Joseph Schumpeter]] also emphasized this apparent contradiction in his commentary on Smith's work.

Adam Smith himself cannot have seen any contradiction, since he produced a revised edition of ''Moral Sentiments'' after the publication of ''Wealth of Nations''. Both sets of ideas are to be found in his ''Lectures on Jurisprudence''. In recent years most students of Adam Smith's work have argued that no contradiction exists. In the ''Theory of Moral Sentiments'', Smith develops a theory of psychology in which individuals in society find it in their self-interest to develop sympathy as they seek approval of what he calls the "impartial spectator." The self-interest he speaks of is not a narrow selfishness but something that involves sympathy.

Some readers of ''The Wealth of Nations'' have assumed that when Smith speaks of "self-interest" he is referring to selfishness. Although in some contexts, such as buying and selling, sympathy generally need not be considered, Smith makes it clear that he regards selfishness as inappropriate, if not immoral, and that the self-interested actor has sympathy for others. In ''The Theory of Moral Sentiments'' Smith argues that the self-interest of any actor includes the interest of the rest of society, since the socially-defined notions of appropriate and inappropriate actions necessarily affect the interests of the individual as a member of society. Context is also useful as Adam Smith was against the idea of corporations, or "joint stock companies."

In any case, Adam Smith apparently believed that moral sentiments and self-interest would always add up to the same thing. One possible line of reasoning he might have employed in reaching this conclusion is as follows: the invisible hand cannot operate if there is no society, for precluding a societal construct precludes division of labor, and thus, the efficiency which comes with its manifestation. Now for society to exist, justice is a necessary condition (as pointed out in Smith's ''Theory of Moral Sentiments''). For justice to exist in any social setting, individuals must harbor the passions of gratitude and resentment governed by a sense of 'merit' and 'demerit' (again from Smith's ''Theory of Moral Sentiments''). And finally, as Smith himself would have so vehemently argued, the sense of 'merit' and 'demerit' is almost exclusively engendered by human sympathy. In conclusion, the invisible hand of the market is, at some level, contingent upon the ability of humans to sympathize: Smith's self-interest is indeed in consonance with the notion of sympathy.

==Influence==
''The Wealth of Nations'', one of the earliest attempts to study the rise of industry and commercial development in Europe, was a precursor to the modern academic discipline of economics. It provided one of the best-known intellectual rationales for free trade and [[capitalism]], greatly influencing the writings of later economists. During and after the bicentennial celebration of the Wealth of Nations in 1976, much more attention has been paid to The Theory of Moral Sentiments as well as to his use of rhetoric, his views on virtue, government intervention or on the provision of public health, public works and education and his opposition to slavery, morally and economically, inequality, including racial inequality, and to beliefs in the color line, the inferiority of blacks, and the poor and the Irish. Nor did Smith believe that common sense was inferior to science.<ref name="dismal science">
[http://www.econlib.org/LIBRARY/Columns/LevyPeartdismal.html The Secret History of the Dismal Science: Economics, Religion and Race in the 19th Century by economists David Levy and Sandra Peart]</ref>. Topics that increased in frequency after 1976 include: calling him a moral philosopher and scientist or economist, pointing to a need to read both of his two major works, and his lesser works as well, describing his "economic man" as also a moral man, presenting his interests in virtue and morality, identifying the effects of his definition of the separation of the church and state, and of various of forms of government, including republics, on ending or promoting slavery, war, or both, characterizing mercantilism, slavery and colonialism, monopoly, as less efficient, and more expensive than free trade, free labor, or labor not coerced by want, misery, or force, discussing his legacy as a "lost legacy", citing his enemies and those who are and have "purloined" or "coopted" his works, looking at the British's government response to him and other English citizens who were his friends after the French Revolution, and his response to religion and querying why he did not publish promised works.

Overall, a heightened interest in Adam Smith and his works has been sustained until today. Among those reporting on such trends as more than a "speculative bubble" is economist Jonathan B. Wight in a 2004 conference paper titled "Is There a Speculative Bubble in Scholarship on Adam Smith?", presented at the Eleventh World Congress of Social Economics, Albertville, France. Wight, in addition to being the author of this paper and of other books and articles on Adam Smith and his works, also reports in 2002 that six hundred articles and thirty books had been published in the twenty seven years between 1970 and 1997. Only two articles on Adam Smith or his works were published the year before 1971 Wight also reports in a journal article, "The Rise of Adam Smith: Articles and Citations, 1970-1997".

There, in addition, has been a controversy over the extent of Smith's originality in ''The Wealth of Nations.'' Some argue that the work added only modestly to the already established ideas of thinkers such as [[Anders Chydenius]] ([[The National Gain]] 1765), [[David Hume]] and the [[Charles de Secondat, Baron de Montesquieu|Baron de Montesquieu]]. Indeed, many of the theories Smith set out simply described historical trends away from mercantilism and towards free trade that had been developing for many decades and had already had significant influence on governmental policy. Nevertheless, Smith's work organized their ideas comprehensively, and so remains one of the most influential and important books in the field today.

Smith was ranked #30 in Michael H. Hart's [[The 100|list of the most influential figures in history]].{{MW18/addmore}}

From 13 March 2007 onwards Smith's portrait appeared in the UK on new [[Pound sterling|£]]20 notes. He is the first Scotsman to feature on a currency issued by the [[Bank of England]].<ref name="bbc1">{{Cite web|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/6096938.stm|title=Smith replaces Elgar on £20 note|accessyear=2007|accessmonthday=September 10|publisher=BBC News|year=2006|author=BBC News|language=English}}</ref> A picture of the note is available on the Bank of England website.<ref name="bank">{{Cite web|url=http://www.bankofengland.co.uk/banknotes/virtualtour/virtual_tour_flash.htm|title=Bank of England Banknotes - Virtual Tour|accessyear=2007|accessmonthday=September 10|publisher=Bank of England|author=Bank of England|language=English}}</ref>

On [[June 25]] [[2006]], when [[Warren Buffet]] announced that he would donate his wealth to [[Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation|The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation]], he was presented with a copy of Adam Smith's [[Wealth of Nations]] by [[Bill Gates]].<ref name="nytimes1">{{Cite web|url=http://www.nytimes.com/2006/06/26/business/26cnd-buffet.html?ex=1308974400&en=1a8df7bb4f340d38&ei=5088&partner=rssnyt&emc=rss|title=Buffett Always Planned to Give Away His Billions|accessyear=2007|accessmonthday=September 10|publisher=New York Times|year=2006|author=Jeremy W. Peters|language=English}}</ref>

==Major works==
* ''[[The Theory of Moral Sentiments]]'' (1759)
* ''[[The Wealth of Nations|An Inquiry Into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations]]'' (1776)
* ''[[Essays on Philosophical Subjects]]'' (published posthumously 1795)
* ''[[Lectures on Jurisprudence]]'' (published posthumously 1976)
* ''[[Lectures on Rhetoric and Belle Lettres]]''

== Critics of Adam Smith==

* ''Arthur Lee'', ''An Essay in Vindication Of The Continental Colonies Of America, From A Censure of Mr. Adam Smith, in His Theory of Moral Sentiments. With Some Reflections on Slavery in General. By an American'' 1764 <ref> http://books.google.com/books?printsec=titlepage&dq=adam+smith+slavery&id=I7RIAAAAMAAJ&output=html_text </ref>
* ''Charles Dickens'' '' The Secret History of the Dismal Science: Economics, Religion and Race in the 19th Century'' by economists David Levy and Sandra Peart <ref name="dismal science"/>
* ''Thomas Carlyle'', Ibid.<ref name="dismal science"/>
* ''John Ruskin'', Ibid., <ref name="dismal science"/>

==References==
{{reflist|2}}

==Bibliography==
* James Buchan. ''The Authentic Adam Smith: His Life and Ideas'' (2006)
* Stephen Copley and Kathryn Sutherland, eds. ''Adam Smith's Wealth of Nations: New Interdisciplinary Essays'' (1995)
* F. Glahe, ed. ''Adam Smith and the Wealth of Nations: 1776-1976'' (1977)
* Knud Haakonssen. ''The Cambridge Companion to Adam Smith'' (2006)
* [[Samuel Hollander]]. ''The Economics of Adam Smith'' (University of Toronto Press) (1973)
* Muller, Jerry Z. ''Adam Smith in his Time and Ours: Designing the Decent Society''. Princeton Univ. Press (1995)
* Muller, Jerry Z. ''The Mind and the Market: Capitalism in Western Thought''. Anchor Books (2002)
* [[James Otteson]]. ''Adam Smith's Marketplace of Life'' (Cambridge University Press, 2002).
* [[James Otteson]]. "The Recurring 'Adam Smith Problem,'" ''History of Philosophy Quarterly'' 17, 1 (January 2000): 51–74.
* Frederick Rosen, ''Classical Utilitarianism from Hume to Mill'' ([[Routledge]] Studies in Ethics & Moral Theory), 2003. ISBN 0415220947
* P. J. O'Rourke. ''On The Wealth of Nations'' (Books That Changed the World) (2006)
* Richard F. Teichgraeber. ''Free Trade and Moral Philosophy: Rethinking the Sources of Adam Smith's Wealth of Nations'' (1986)
* {{A Short Biographical Dictionary of English Literature}}

==External links==
{{Wikiquote}}
{{Wikisource author}}
{{Wikisource|Times Obituary of Adam Smith}}
;General
* [http://www.econlib.org/library/Enc/bios/Smith.html Biography] at the ''Concise Encyclopedia of Economics''
* [http://metalibri.wikidot.com/authors:smith-a Adam Smith's page at MetaLibri]
* [http://www.econlib.org/library/YPDBooks/Rae/raeLS.html ''Life of Adam Smith''] by John Rae, at the Library of Economics and Liberty
* [http://www.mises.org/web/2691 ''The Celebrated Adam Smith''] by [[Murray N. Rothbard]]; full text of Chapter 16 of ''[[An Austrian Perspective on the History of Economic Thought]]'', Vol. I and II, Edward Elgar, 1995; [[Ludwig von Mises Institute|Mises Institute]] 2006
* [http://cepa.newschool.edu/het/profiles/smith.htm Smith's works]
* [http://econ161.berkeley.edu/Economists/smith.html Brad deLong's Adam Smith page]
* [http://www.adamsmith.org The Adam Smith Institute]
* [http://web.uvic.ca/~rutherfo/a_smith.html Grave of Adam Smith] on the [http://web.uvic.ca/~rutherfo/mr_grvs.html Famous Economists Grave Sites]
* [http://www.importantscots.com/adam-smith.htm Adam Smith - Important Scots]
* {{PDFlink|[http://www.cfh.ufsc.br/ethic@/et42art2.pdf Reflections on Smith's ethics]|129 [[Kibibyte|KiB]]}}
* [http://www-personal.umich.edu/~jbourj/money4.htm Adam Smith on the 50 British Pound (Clydesdale Bank) banknote]
* [http://www.pcdf.org/corprule/betrayal.htm "The Betrayal of Adam Smith" by David C. Korten]
* [http://www.iea.org.uk/record.jsp?type=book&ID=414 ''Adam Smith - A Primer''] by Eamonn Butler. Introduction to Smith's work, free download
* [http://books.google.com/books?printsec=titlepage&dq=adam+smith+slavery&id=I7RIAAAAMAAJ&output=html_text ''An Essay In Vindication Of The Continental Colonies Of America,From A Censure of Mr Adam Smith, in His Theory of Moral Sentiments. With Some Reflections on Slavery in General.By an American'',1764]
* [http://oll.libertyfund.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=998&Itemid=272 Timeline of the Life of Adam Smith (1723-1790)] at the [http://oll.libertyfund.org/ Online Library of Liberty]
* [http://oll.libertyfund.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=995&Itemid=272 Timeline of the Scottish Enlightenment] at the [http://oll.libertyfund.org/ Online Library of Liberty]

;Works
* {{gutenberg author| id=Adam+Smith | name=Adam Smith}}
*[http://metalibri.incubadora.fapesp.br/portal/authors/AnInquiryIntoTheNatureAndCausesOfTheWealthOfNations ''An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations''] at MetaLibri Digital Library (PDF)
* [http://metalibri.incubadora.fapesp.br/portal/authors/TheTheoryOfMoralSentiments ''The Theory of Moral Sentiments''] at MetaLibri Digital Library
* [http://www.econlib.org/library/Smith/smMS.html ''The Theory of Moral Sentiments''] at the [http://www.econlib.org/index.html Library of Economics and Liberty]
* [http://www.econlib.org/library/Smith/smWN.html ''The Wealth of Nations''] at the [http://www.econlib.org/index.html Library of Economics and Liberty]. Cannan edition. Definitive, fully searchable, free online
* {{Gutenberg|no=3300|name=The Wealth of Nations}}
* [http://www.mondopolitico.com/library/wealthofnations/toc.htm ''The Wealth of Nations''] from [http://www.mondopolitico.com/library/ Mondo Politico Library] - full text; formatted for easy on-screen reading
* [http://www.adamsmith.org/smith/won-intro.htm ''The Wealth of Nations''] from the [http://www.adamsmith.org/ Adam Smith Institute] - elegantly formatted for on-screen reading
* [http://oll.libertyfund.org/index.php?option=com_staticxt&staticfile=show.php%3Ftitle=197&Itemid=99999999 ''Works and Correspondence of Adam Smith'']. Glasgow edition, 7 volumes at the [http://oll.libertyfund.org/ Online Library of Liberty]. Definitive, free online



{{start box}}
{{s-aca}}
{{succession box|title=[[Rector of the University of Glasgow]]|years=1787—1789|before=[[Robert Cunninghame-Grahame of Gartmore]]|after=[[Walter Campbell of Shawfield]]}}
{{end}}

{{ History of economic thought}}

{{Enlightenment}}

{{Persondata
|NAME=Smith, Adam
|ALTERNATIVE NAMES=
|SHORT DESCRIPTION=Scottish philosopher and economist
|DATE OF BIRTH={{birth date|1723|6|5|mf=y}} [[Old Style|O.S.]] ([[June 16]] [[New Style|N.S.]])
|PLACE OF BIRTH=[[Kirkcaldy]], [[Fife]], [[Scotland]]
|DATE OF DEATH={{death date|1790|7|17|mf=y}}
|PLACE OF DEATH=[[Edinburgh]], [[Scotland]]
}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Smith, Adam}}
[[Category:Classical economists]]
[[Category:Classical liberals]]
[[Category:Deist thinkers]]
[[Category:Economists]]
[[Category:Enlightenment philosophers]]
[[Category:Scottish business theorists]]
[[Category:Scottish economists]]
[[Category:Scottish Enlightenment]]
[[Category:Scottish philosophers]]
[[Category:Academics of the University of Edinburgh]]
[[Category:Academics of the University of Glasgow]]
[[Category:Fellows of the Royal Society]]
[[Category:Fellows of the Royal Society of Arts]]
[[Category:Fellows of the Royal Society of Edinburgh]]
[[Category:Alumni of the University of Glasgow]]
[[Category:Alumni of Balliol College, Oxford]]
[[Category:People from Kirkcaldy]]
[[Category:1723 births]]
[[Category:1790 deaths]]
[[Category:People associated with Edinburgh]]
[[Category:Rectors of the University of Glasgow]]

{{Link FA|fr}}

[[ar:آدم سميث]]
[[ast:Adam Smith]]
[[bn:অ্যাডাম স্মিথ]]
[[bs:Adam Smith]]
[[br:Adam Smith]]
[[bg:Адам Смит]]
[[ca:Adam Smith]]
[[cs:Adam Smith]]
[[da:Adam Smith]]
[[de:Adam Smith]]
[[et:Adam Smith]]
[[el:Άνταμ Σμιθ]]
[[es:Adam Smith]]
[[eo:Adam Smith]]
[[eu:Adam Smith]]
[[fa:آدام اسمیت]]
[[fo:Adam Smith]]
[[fr:Adam Smith]]
[[ga:Adam Smith]]
[[gd:Adam Smith]]
[[gl:Adam Smith]]
[[zh-classical:斯密亞丹]]
[[ko:애덤 스미스]]
[[hi:एडम स्मिथ]]
[[hr:Adam Smith]]
[[io:Adam Smith]]
[[id:Adam Smith]]
[[is:Adam Smith]]
[[it:Adam Smith]]
[[he:אדם סמית]]
[[ka:ადამ სმითი]]
[[la:Adamus Smith]]
[[lv:Ādams Smits]]
[[lt:Adam Smith]]
[[hu:Adam Smith]]
[[ms:Adam Smith]]
[[mn:Адам Смит]]
[[nl:Adam Smith]]
[[ja:アダム・スミス]]
[[no:Adam Smith]]
[[nn:Adam Smith]]
[[uz:Adam Smith]]
[[pl:Adam Smith]]
[[pt:Adam Smith]]
[[ro:Adam Smith]]
[[qu:Adam Smith]]
[[ru:Смит, Адам]]
[[sco:Adam Smith]]
[[sq:Adam Smith]]
[[scn:Adam Smith]]
[[si:ඇඩම් ස්මිත්]]
[[simple:Adam Smith]]
[[sk:Adam Smith]]
[[sl:Adam Smith]]
[[sr:Адам Смит]]
[[sh:Adam Smith]]
[[fi:Adam Smith]]
[[sv:Adam Smith]]
[[te:ఆడం స్మిత్]]
[[th:แอดัม สมิธ]]
[[vi:Adam Smith]]
[[tr:Adam Smith]]
[[uk:Адам Сміт]]
[[ur:آدم سمتھ]]
[[diq:Adam Smith]]
[[zh:亚当·斯密]]