SMITH, Adam.

£5,000 · Offered by Peter Harrington · No longer available

An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations. Fifth edition, the last to be published in Smith's lifetime, of this foundational work of political economy. "The Wealth of Nations had no rival in scope or depth when published and is still one of the few works in its field to have achieved classic status, meaning simply that it has sustained yet survived repeated reading, critical and adulatory" (ODNB).The work "begins with the thought that labour is the source from which a nation derives what is necessary to it. The improvement of the division of labour is the measure of productivity and in it lies the human propensity to barter and exchange... The Wealth of Nations ends with a history of economic development, a definitive onslaught on the mercantile system, and some prophetic speculations on the limits of economic control" (PMM). Smith's ultimate aim was to provide legislators with a set of principles to guide their regulation of commerce. Some of these principles advocated improvements in existing policies, others aimed to alter the overall climate within which these policies operated.

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