The Wealth of Nations
The Wealth of Nations Adam Smith is one of the world’s most famous economists. His ideas about money, government, and people in general, have guided the thoughts and actions of many of the economists that have followed him. In his book “The Wealth of Nations,” he discusses many different topics, but there are five main or common themes that will be discussed in this paper. The first theme is that regulating commerce is “ill-founded” and “counterproductive.” Smith rebuked the ideas of the common era that said by boosting exports and resisting imports you could maximize wealth. Instead, Smith believed that the only way to maximize wealth was to create an abundant flow of products and services throughout the county. Instead of restricting the nation’s productive capacity, the strategy should be to set it free. In the chapter on treaties of commerce wrote the following quote: When a nation binds itself by treaty wither to permit the entry of certain goods from one foreign country which it prohibits from all others, or to exempt the goods of one country from duties to which it subjects those of all others, the country, or at least the merchants and manufacturers of the country, whose commerce is so favoured, must necessarily derive great advantage from the treaty. It is my opinion, especially after having read, “The Choice“ by Russell Roberts, that free trade is the only way to grow the economy. When you attempt to control the outcomes of trade by placing restriction, tariffs, or other controlled measures on trade, it can create monopolies that produce wealth for only those manufacturers. The best way to create wealth, is to keep trade open without restriction, and allow any country that has a comparative advantage to bring wealth to your country in a more roundabout, or less obvious way. Therefore, less government, less restriction would create greater wealth by allowing the invisible hand and general economic flow of the world to take its course. The