| Description |
xxvi, 1154 pages ; 20 cm. |
| Series |
The Modern Library classics |
|
Modern Library classics.
|
| Note |
Originally published: An inquiry into the nature and causes of the wealth of nations / Adam Smith ; edited ... by Edwin Cannan. 1994. With new introd. by Robert Reich. |
| Bibliography |
Includes bibliographical references and index. |
| Contents |
Book one: Of the division of labour -- Of the principle which gives occasion to the division of labour -- That the division of labour is limited by the extent of the market -- Of the origin and use of money -- Of the real and nominal price of commodities, or of their price in labour, and their price is money -- Of the component parts of the price of commodities -- Of the natural and market price of commodities -- Of the wages of labour -- Of the profits of stock -- Of wages and profit in the different employments of labour and stock: Inequalities arising from the nature of the employments themselves -- Inequalities occasioned by the policy of Europe -- Of the rent of land: Of the produce of land which always affords rent -- Of the produce of land which sometimes does, and sometimes does not, afford rent -- Book two: Of the division of stock -- Of money considered as a particular branch of the general stock of society, or of the expence of maintaining the natural capital -- Of the accumulation of capital, or of productive and unproductive labour -- Of stock lent at an interest -- Of the different employment of capitals -- Book three: Of the different progress of opulence in different nations -- Of the natural progress of opulence -- Of the discouragement of agriculture in the ancient state of Europe after the fall of the Roman Empire -- Of the rise and progress of cities and towns after the fall of the Roman Empire -- How the commerce of the towns contributed to the improvement of the country -- Book four: Of systems of poitical economy -- Of the principle of the commercial, or mercantile system -- Of the restraints upon the importation from foreign countries of such goods as can be produced at home -- Of the extraordinary restraints upon the importation of goods of almost all kinds, from those countries with which the balance is supposed to be disadvantageous: Of the unreasonableness of those restraints even upon the principles of the commercial system -- Of the unreasonableness of those extraordinary restraints upon other principles -- Of drawbacks -- Of bounties -- Of treaties of commerce -- Of colonies: Of the motives for establishing new colonies -- Causes of the prosperity of new colonies -- Of the advantages which Europe has derived from the discovery of America, and from that of a passage to the East Indies by the Cape of Good Hope -- Conclusion of the mercantile system -- Of the agricultural systems, or of those systems of political economy, which represent the produce of land, as either the sole or the principal source of the revenue and wealth of every country -- Book five: Of the revenue of the sovereign or commonwealth: Of the expences of defence -- Of the expence of justice -- Of the expence of public works and public institutions -- Of the expence of supporting the dignity of the sovereign -- Of the sources of the general or public revenue of the society: Of the funds or sources of revenue which may peculiarly belong to the sovereign or commonwealth -- Of taxes -- Of public debts. |
| Summary |
Adam Smith's masterpiece, first published in 1776, is the foundation of modern economic thought and remains the single most important account of the rise of, and the principles behind, modern capitalism. Written in clear and incisive prose, The Wealth of Nations articulates the concepts indispensable to an understanding of contemporary society; and Robert Reich's new Introduction for this edition both clarifies Smith's analyses and illuminates his overall relevance to the world in which we live. As Reich writes, "Smith's mind ranged over issues as fresh and topical today as they were in the late eighteenth century - jobs, wages, politics, government, trade, education, business, and ethics." |
|
"An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations (generally referred to by the short title The Wealth of Nations) is the masterpiece of the Scottish economist and moral philosopher Adam Smith. It was first published in 1776. It is an account of economics at the dawn of the Industrial Revolution, as well as a rhetorical piece written for the generally educated individual of the 18th century - advocating a free market economy as more productive and more beneficial to society. The book is often considered to have laid the basic groundwork for modern economic theory" -- from Wikipedia. |
| Subject |
Economics.
|
|
Economics. (OCoLC)fst00902116
|
| Added Author |
Cannan, Edwin, 1861-1935.
|
| Added Title |
Inquiry into the nature and causes of the wealth of nations
|
| ISBN |
0679783369 (paperback) |
|
9780679783367 (paperback) |
|
