How Did Adam Smith Affect The Economy

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Money! Wealth! Riches! What do those words mean though? What's their value? Adam Smith, political economist, changed how America saw the nation's wealth. Smith a philosopher, wrote the book called the Wealth of Nations. This book will later have a great impact on many futures. Though his life span was only about 67 years, in those years he changed the economical structure of America. Smith had a childhood that was surprisingly impressing; therefore, he grew up to become a great man. Born June 5th, 1723 in Kirkcaldy, UK, he was the only child, and first son by second marriage of his father. The infant was born to Margaret Douglas and Adam Smith. Sadly, his father died shortly after his birth and he was raised by his single mother. While attending school at Burgh, he studied mathematics, history, and writing. Smith went to the University of Glasgow when he was 14, and in 1740 he went to Oxford. He passed away on July 17, 1790 in Edinburgh, …show more content…

The father of modern day capitalism is what he was called. Smith developed the idea of the free market system. “The economy would be better with a free market system with some government control,” he proposed. This includes the ideas of tariffs, subsidies, regulations and among other examples. He devoted his time to laissez-faire. In his book, Wealth of Nations, he proposed that a nation's wealth should not be judged on gold and silver, but the total production and commerce (GDP). Though some disagreed about the idea Smith had of government intervention, he thought the government should not be involved in the economy or business. Therefore he outlined three important government duties; the government should intervene when it comes to national defense, administrating justice, and supplying certain things. His motivation was thinking about how members can use the market to make rational decisions about the economic

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