BIOGRAPHY OF A FAMOUS ECONOMIST

Adam Smith was born in a small village in Kirkcaldy, Scotland. He was raised by his
widowed mother, entered at University of Glasgow at the age of fourteen on scholarship and
later all joined Balliol College at Oxford where he graduated with an extensive knowledge of
European literature and an enduring contempt for English schools. His lectures after returning
home was well received thus he was made the first chair of logic in 1751. Later in 1752, he was
appointed the chair of moral philosophy at Glasgow University.
In 1764, he left academia to tour young duke of Buccleuch for two years, traveled
through France and Switzerland the experience that brought him into contact with his
Contemporaries Voltaire, Jean –Jacques Rousseau, Francoise Quesnay and Anaerobes Jacque
Turgot.
After retiring, he wrote a great book – “The Wealth of Nation” which was published in
the year 1776 the same year which his best friend David Hume died and at the same time when
the American declaration of independence was signed. With this book, Adam Smith installed
himself a leading expositor of economic thought and in 1778; he was appointed Commissioner of
Customs where he enforced laws against smuggling of which he defended in his book as
legitimate activity in the face of “unnatural” legislation.
Today, Smiths’ reputation rests on his explanation on how rational self-interest in a free market
economy leads to economic well-being. He had a benign view of self-interest and self-love thus
did not view sympathy and self-interest as ant ethical but were complementally.
Smith’s explanation on why wage rate should be higher to trades that were more difficult
to learn, dirty and unsafe jobs gave rise to Modern Notion of Human Capital. His book was

published as a five- book series which sought to reveal the nature and causes of nation’s
prosperity.
Smith explains how individuals can apply their own labor or any other resources in his
first series. He believed that the government should enforce contracts and grant patents and copy
rights to encourage inventions and new ideas. He also thought that the government should
provide for public works like road and bridges while the users were to pay the government for
using them.
His writing also was both an inquiry into the science of Economics and Policy guide for
realizing the wealth of nation free competition. He believed that economic development was best
fostered in an environment of free competition that operated in accordance with the universal
“Natural laws”
Adam Smith never got married and he died in Edinburgh on July 19, 1790. Many
Economists like David Ricardo joined the field of Economics after reading Adam smith’s book
of series that is The wealth of Nation thus he was a great man.He inspired both leaders,
University students and the government itself when it came to making some decisions regarding
the economy of the country. He also wrote about morals thus contributing to high level of
discipline. The died a hero in that his knowledge is used till today by us students and te whole
world at large. He did enough research on economics thus making it easy for us to understand it
better.

http://www.econlib.org/library/Smith/smWN.html.
Rothschild, E. (2013). Economic sentiments. Harvard University Press.

Smith, Craig. Adam Smith’s political philosophy: the invisible hand and spontaneous order. Routledge,
2006.