WORLD FAMOUS ECONOMISTS AND THEIR CONTRIBUTIONS - ADAM SMITH

WORLD FAMOUS ECONOMISTS AND THEIR CONTRIBUTIONS

            ADAM SMITH

            (1723 – 1790)

·        Father of Modern Economics

·         He was a Scottish economist, philosopher, and author

·         A moral philosopher, a pioneer of political economy, he was a key figure during the Scottish Enlightenment era

·         He is best known for two classic works:

1.    The Theory of Moral Sentiments (1759), and

2.  An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations (1776)

• The latter, usually abbreviated as The Wealth of Nations, is considered his magnum opus and the first modern work of economics
•  “The great object of the Political Economy of every country is to increase the riches and power of that country.” 
• The phrase invisible hand was introduced by Adam Smith in his book 'The Wealth of Nations'. He assumed that an economy can work well in a free market scenario where everyone will work for his/her own interest

SOME OF HIS FAMOUS QUOTES

“No society can surely be flourishing and happy of which by far the greater part of the numbers are poor and miserable. ”

“It is not from the benevolence of the butcher, the brewer, or the baker that we expect our dinner, but from their regard to their own self-interest. We address ourselves not to their humanity but to their self-love, and never talk to them of our own necessities, but of their advantages”

“How selfish soever man may be supposed, there are evidently some principles in his nature, which interest him in the fortune of others, and render their happiness necessary to him, though he derives nothing from it, except the pleasure of seeing it.”

“Man is an animal that makes bargains: no other animal does this - no dog exchanges bones with another.”

“Individual Ambition Serves the Common Good.”