Adam Smith Essay

“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.” This is a quote from the book Wealth of Nations, which Adam Smith wrote, addresses well about why and what reason people work for. The butcher, the brewer, or the baker does not cut, stir, or bake because they want to please the customer or to feed the poor, but to earn money and for their own happiness. Adam Smith, who fully understood the concepts of capitalism and free market system, became one of the most well respected economists throughout the world. Smith became famous because of his philosophy of economics. Because of his thoughts on economics, today he is well known as the “father of economics.”
Adam Smith was born in a village called Kirkcaldy at 1723, Scotland. His father was a lawyer who married Margaret Douglas in 1720 and died two month after Smith was born. When Adam was fourteen, he earned a scholarship to get in to the University of Glasgow, and later he attended Balliol College at Oxford. After getting educated, Adam started to lecture in 1748 in University of Edinburgh. In 1764, Adam left off teaching in the University of Edinburgh to tutor a duke’s son whose name was Buccleuch. Then after he earned enough money from lecturing, Adam published two books. The first book that Adam wrote was “The Theory of Moral Sentiments” at 1759, and the second book was “An Inquiry into the Nature and Cause of the Wealth of Nations,” at 1776. In 1778, Adam was appointed as an administrator of customs. In this job he was to enforce laws against smuggling. Adam Smith was never married, and died at age 67, 1790.
The book, Wealth of Nations, plays a major role in studying Smith’s idea on...

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... is that it opens up new markets for more profits and lower the cost of goods if they were imported. This idea would increase the potential wealth of nation; however, the idea of mercantilism only supports the immediate nation’s wealth.
The fifth book, Of the Revenue of the Sovereign or Commonwealth, addresses about his thoughts on Sovereign or Commonwealth. Smith mentions that there are two important duties for sovereign. First is to protect the society from getting attack from other countries. Second is to protect people from injustice.
Even though Adam Smith lived in a different century then us, he fully understood how wealth can be accumulated. His concepts of capitalism and free market are still the root of many nations and still bring much wealth to these nations. With all these accomplishments, we can, with no doubt, say Adam Smith is the father of economics.