Adam Smith was born on June 16, 1723, and so on that day one of the world's most important economists and philosophers was born. Adam Smith a Scottish philosopher from Glasgow is most well known for being the founder of modern day free trade and capitalism.
He studied at the University of Glasgow and and Oxford University. His greatest work is probably his book Wealth of Nations. In the Wealth of Nations he states that while the economy may seem chaoticc it is actually guided by an "invisible hand". Smith was a firm believer that the best thing for an economy was for an individual to pursue self interests. Also Smith laid down the foundation for the theory of opportunity cost by stating,"the real price of everything... is the toil and trouble of acquiring it."
His belief in the free market and that businesses should govern the economy not governmental institutions still rings true today. Many nations use a free market, but in most cases it is not a true free market, but they take the best ideas from Smith and apply them to the economy.
The main thing to take away from Smith's theories is that the best way for the economy to surivive is for private businesses to pursue their best interests. He believes that this benefits both the buyer and the sellers.
Adam Smith died on July 17, 1790 but his legacy still lives on and his economic theories are still used today.
No comments:
Post a Comment