A Study of the Nature and Causes of National Wealth, Volume 1

Author: Adam Smith
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2002-11-01
Features: Adam Smith, a renowned British bourgeois economist, is the author of this representative work, "An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations," published in 1776. At that time, it was the period of the growth of British capitalism, and British handicraft manufacturing was beginning to transition to large-scale industry. The development of British industry was still largely constrained by the remnants of feudalism and the restrictive policies of mercantilism that were popular at the time. The young British bourgeoisie, eager to remove obstacles from its path forward, urgently demanded a free economic theory system to pave the way for it. Adam Smith's "An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations" emerged during this historical period,. This book summarized the experience of the development of capitalism in various countries during the early modern period and, on the basis of critically absorbing important economic theories of the time, provided a more systematic and clear description of the entire process of national economic movement. After its publication, it not only directly promoted the development of British capitalism but also had a more widespread impact on the development of world capitalism than any other bourgeois economic work of the time. It is no wonder that some bourgeois scholars at the time revered it as a treasure. However, history soon revealed its limitations and flaws.