A professor of moral philosophy in Glasgow, Adam Smith is remembered as the father of modern economics. In The Wealth of Nations, he explained how the division of labor and free exchange generate prosperity. Before that, he wrote about sympathy as the basis of morality, showing that his economic thought had ethical roots.
Core ideas
When each person pursues their own interest, the market tends to generate wealth for all
The division of labor multiplies a society's productivity
Morality arises from sympathy: we put ourselves in another's place to judge
The tradition: Economic liberalism
Economic liberalism defends free markets, property and little state interference in the economy. Adam Smith is its classical founder, with the idea that free exchange organizes society.
