The Wealth of Nations by Adam Smith: THe Beginning of Capitalism

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The first and most basic economic principal that needs to be understood is that God owns everything (Sproul, 2014). God created everything and He chose man to manage all that is His (Sproul, 2014). There has always been a strong connection between economics and Christian thought (Anderson, 2001). Scriptures will help evaluate the very foundation of each economic theory (Anderson, 2001). The free enterprise system has provided the greatest amount of freedom and the most effective economic gains of any economic system ever devised (Anderson, 2001).

In 1776, Adam Smith created a publication called “The Wealth of Nations,” which was the beginning of Capitalism (Anderson, 2001). His theory stated that the wealth of nations could be increased by allowing the individual to seek their own self-interest and removal of governmental control over the economy (Anderson, 2001). There are three major points for the theory of capitalism. The first system was based upon the observance that people are motivated by self-interest (Anderson, 2001). The second premise was the acceptance of private property, which would be owned and freely traded in a market system (Anderson, 2001). Gains for exchanges of property creates incentive and become the driving power behind capitalism (Anderson, 2001). Lastly, the theory stated that it would be ideal to minimize the role of the government. The idea was to decrease the role of the government and increase free market (Anderson, 2001). Capitalism has a number of advantages that have liberated economic potential and provided a foundation for a great deal of political and economic freedom (Anderson, 2001). However, the down side of capitalism is that it can lead to monopolies (Anderson, 2001). Chr...

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