On this day in history, June 5th, we look all the way back to 1723 and the birth of Adam Smith, the father of modern economics. His seminal book, An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations, is still more than 200 years later. The most reference and the most misinterpreted texts on free market capitalism at the time of its publication Wealth of Nations, was by far the most comprehensive work on economic theory, legitimizing the idea that economics itself was indeed a science, albeit a dismal one, but one that could be measured, tweaked and even gamed. Smith’s theories introduced the world to the concepts of free markets, of division, of labor, of social prosperity. But most importantly, he introduced the idea of that invisible hand and allegorical depiction of what he saw as two key elements to economic prosperity self-interest, which motivates economic activity and competition, which organically regulates that economic activity.
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