Smith, Adam

Adam Smith was an 18th-century moral philosopher now best known for his pioneering work on economic theory published as An Enquiry Concerning the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations (1776). This work has had a lasting influence upon economic thought and policy in many countries, and Smith’s name is often invoked today in ideological debates regarding poverty, economic growth, and policy, in which it is often assumed he was the founding figure of conservative or neoliberal economics. This identification is in fact not as clear-cut as it appears.

Smith was born in Kirkcaldy, Scotland, in 1723. He was educated at Glasgow University, which was a center of the Scottish Enlightenment. He then moved to Oxford, where he broadened his education before returning to Scotland ...