Introduction
Adam Smith is widely considered the Father of Capitalism, and the world’s first economist. When he published his book “The Wealth of Nations” in 1776, he had no clue that he would start a chain of events that would fundamental change the world.
History
As with many historical figures, not much is known about Adam Smith’s youth. The first major undertaking that is documented about his life occurred in 1737, at the age of 14, when he attended the University of Glasgow. While at university he studied moral philosophy under Francis Hutcheson. He graduated from the university in 1740, and chose to pursue post-graduate studies at Oxford University. He hated his time at Oxford, but nevertheless remained there until 1746. By 1748, Smith had returned to Scotland and had begun a career of teaching by giving public lectures in Edinburgh. He was able to give these lectures because he had secured the patronage of Lord Kames. While he spent most of his time lecturing about morality, he did begin to venture slightly into free market economics but only in relation to a larger conversation about free societies. In 1751, Smith was finally able to secure a salaried professorship at the University of Glasgow
. After being at the University for only one year, he was named Chair of Moral Philosophy. In 1759, Smith published his book “Theory of Moral Sentiments,” in which he made many claims centered around the force of mutual sympathy between individuals. What Smith called mutual sympathy would later become known as empathy. The publishing of the “Theory of Moral Sentiments”, immediately catapulted Smith to intellectual fame. Fame that led Lord Charles Townshead make Smith the tutor of his stepsons in 1763. While he was tutoring Townshead son, he traveled Europe with the boy. During which time, he began to develop his ideas about economics, due to the great amount of free time that his new job afforded him. One of the greatest impacts of the trip on his thinking occurred while in France, when Smith was able to interact with the physiocrats of Paris. The physiocrats was a group of proto-capitalists seeking free market reforms in France that inspired many elements of “The Wealth of Nation.” In 1766, Smith tutorship ended after one of Townshead’s stepsons died. Returning to his hometown of Kirkcaldy, Smith began to write “The Wealth of Nations.”
The book was so popular upon it’s publishing that it nearly eclipsed his earlier works completely. In 1778, Smith was named Commissioner of Customs for Scotland. He spent the next 12 years, in continuous intellectual exploration, dying on July 11, 1790.
Significance
While Adam Smith spent his life in deep intellectual exploration, his most significant contribution to academia comes in the form of “The Wealth of Nation.” By introducing the ideas of free market economics to the world, Smith began a motor that would dramatically improve living standards across the world.
Simply put when Adam Smith laid out the principles of a free market economy, he began a process that would dramatically increase the wealth of all human being around the world. When his ideas were implemented global wealth and prosperity skyrocketed. The population also grew exponentially as increasingly better goods and services were able to be produced at increasingly cheaper costs, lowering the cost of living dramatically. Not only did the population dramatically increase, but also new wealth was produced and distributed allowing for a much higher living standard for every human being on Earth.
ljr5433 November 30, 2018
I’m very interested in economics, so naturally I enjoyed reading your post about Adam Smith, the father of economics. I didn’t know that his first book focused on morality, or that this was his original field of study. It does make sense, though, as one can see how moral philosophy can give way to economic theory. While his impact was perhaps not quite so sweeping as you suggest (certainly every human being on Earth has not been lifted to a new standard of living), I found your connections between Smith’s ideas and societal improvements to be interesting and insightful. Nice post!