The Wealth of Nations (Bantam Classics) | 
 enlarge | Author: Adam Smith
Creator: Alan B. Krueger
Publisher: Bantam Classics
Category: Book
List Price: $7.95
Buy New: $4.49
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Avg. Customer Rating:  19 reviews
Sales Rank: 1864
Media: Mass Market Paperback
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 1264
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1.3
Dimensions (in): 6.9 x 4.3 x 2.2
ISBN: 0553585975
Dewey Decimal Number: 330.153
EAN: 9780553585971
ASIN: 0553585975
Publication Date: March 4, 2003
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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Product Description
The Wealth of Nations
by Adam Smith
It is symbolic that Adam Smith’s masterpiece of economic analysis, The Wealth of Nations, was first published in 1776, the same year as the Declaration of Independence.
In his book, Smith fervently extolled the simple yet enlightened notion that individuals are fully capable of setting and regulating prices for their own goods and services. He argued passionately in favor of free trade, yet stood up for the little guy. The Wealth of Nations provided the first--and still the most eloquent--integrated description of the workings of a market economy.
The result of Smith’s efforts is a witty, highly readable work of genius filled with prescient theories that form the basis of a thriving capitalist system. This unabridged edition offers the modern reader a fresh look at a timeless and seminal work that revolutionized the way governments and individuals view the creation and dispersion of wealth--and that continues to influence our economy right up to the present day.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 14 more reviews...
 Making Wealth, Making Poverty: A Smithian Prometheus July 19, 2008
Conquering Scarcity: (Smith's Dialectical Relationship to Marx?)?
Adam Smith is certainly one of the greatest political philosophers in the modern tradition. Our world, as some have argued, is principally the byproduct of the system that Smith outlined in this classic work, together with a judicious mating of John Locke and Thomas Hobbes. The "Wealth of Nations," though the most well known of Smith's writings, is not representative of his entire system of thought, if he has a system: Some authors insist that there is a paradox in Smith's work, when considered in light of "The Theory of Moral Sentiments"? I do not know if this is the case, but the degree to which Smith's ideas have shaped our world cannot be questioned: If it were questioned in this forum, one would only have to point to the existence of this forum to show that Smith was right; the global structure of capitalism today and its development, which has been explored by thinkers after Smith is an undeniable fact. For these reasons, Adam Smith is, in my judgement, one of the most important thinkers in modernity, and he may well have a stake in shaping an arguably post-modern world: But that is not, perhaps, the last word.
Awesome read July 17, 2008
Wealth of Nations by Adam Smith is a great read for anyone wanting to know the foundations of economics and how money works in our world. I listened to this downloadable book as an audiobook from Stratobooks.com while I commuted to and from work. I got through it in just a few days and it was less than 5 bucks.
 The all time classic - worth re-reading in a changing economy April 23, 2008
0 out of 1 found this review helpful
I reread (more like re-scanned) Adam Smith's famous book, The Wealth of Nations. It is a fairly aggressive book based on its size with almost 1,000 pages of fairly fine print of which half of it is dedicated to the supply and demand of corn. But it is surprisingly readable and even interesting. And it is the basic textbook of all economics.
Wealth is defined as production capability or what we might call GDP.
I figure with a changing economy, it never hurts to brush up on the basics. We are in a period of sharp changes in supply and demand. It is important for business leaders to try to understand what impact this will have on them and their companies.
One principle that Adam espouses is the division of labour.
He also talks about principals, those are the people that supply the capital that is put to use by the agents (people who apply the capital). His view is that people should not do both, they should do one or the other. It is an interesting thought.
He is very harsh on protectionism (as am I).
I am not going to recommend reading it because the size is too daunting for many people. I am suggesting thinking of the changes in our economy and how to thrive with them.
 Not For Me January 20, 2008
1 out of 35 found this review helpful
I had to buy this book for a class that I hated and almost couldn't force myself to read it. I had such a hard time with it and found it incredibly boring and confusing. I would never read this book for fun. Unfortunately it does talk about a lot about important things and I could sound like an educated person if I had read it but I just can't understand it. Maybe when I'm over 50 I'll be more interested since I might have a genuine interest in what the book talks about, instead of being forced to read it for a class that I hated so much.
Surprisingly readable September 12, 2007
3 out of 3 found this review helpful
If you have any interest at all in Economics, you'll want to go to the source. This is the source. Adam Smith lays the groundwork for the study of Economics in this very readable treatise.
Though he is discussing 18th century Britain, the topics he discusses have direct analogs in the modern American economy. Taxes, trade, money, monopoly, tarrifs, and international trade balance are all tackled with aplomb.
He really lays into Mercantilism and blasts the protectionism it engenders. Never anything less than a champion of the common man, Smith decrys monopolies and other taxes on those most unable to afford them. Though he seems to be a total free marketeer, he takes great pains to examine the types of taxes which would be useful and prudent for a government to levy.
Once or twice may be fine, but Smith uses this construction for almost every sentence in the book. It is just a stylistic gripe, but the length and complexity of each sentence make digesting the information quite a bit more difficult than it otherwise could have been. I would not be at all disappointed to see this book translated to a more modern style.
Again, if you're interested in Economics at all, this book is the place to start. There is so much good information here to be absorbed and pondered. I recommend it highly.
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