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Business.
Nonfiction.
The foundation for all modern economic thought and political economy, The Wealth of Nations is the magnum opus of Scottish economist Adam Smith, who introduces the world to the very idea of economics and capitalism in the modern sense of the words. Smith details his argument in five books: Book I. Of the Causes of Improvement in the Productive Power of Labour Book II. Of the Nature, Accumulation, and Employment of Stock Introduction Book III. Of the Different Progress of Opulence in Different Nations Book IV. Of Systems of Political Economy Book V. Of the Revenue of the Sovereign or Commonwealth Taken together, these books form a giant leap forward in the field of economics. A product of the "Age of Enlightenment," The Wealth of Nations is a must for all who wish to gain a better understanding of the principles upon which all modern capitalistic economies have been founded and the process of wealth creation that is engendered by those principles.… (more)
A great book, but not for everyone. Amazing insights which are still as valid today as 1775 when the book was written.
Very detailed, great analysis and I really learned a lot from this book. Hard to read in sections, as it is written in very verbose, antiquated English.
I would recommend it if you are interested in Economics and want to gain a perspective from first principles. ( )
L'uomo mena vanto di essere il re del creato, ma può sembrare che, in sostanza, non differisca affatto dagli altri animali. Tuttavia, mamma, c'è una diversità alla quale ho pensato. Forse tu non capisci… E' una facoltà assolutamente esclusiva dell'uomo e consiste nell'aver segreti. (pagina 44)
Essere vivi. Un'impresa immane, in sostenibile, di fronte alla quale non si può far altro che starsene a fiato sospeso, in preda alla più viva apprensione. (pagina 106)
Poco fa sono arrivata a comprendere perché al mondo esistono cose come la guerra, la pace, gli affari, i commerci, la politica. Suppongo che tu non lo sappia. E' per questo che tu sarai sempre infelice. Ti dirò io il perché: è così che le donne mettono al mondo bambini sani. (pagina 125) ( )
This is Smith's second-most-important book. It is a follow-up to his Theory of Moral Sentiments, which underlies all the concepts in Wealth of Nations. ( )
Long, boring, and dated. This book was clearly written for Smith's contemporaries, and consequently it consists of hardly anything but useless information. ( )
A great book, but not for everyone. Amazing insights which are still as valid today as 1775 when the book was written.
Very detailed, great analysis and I really learned a lot from this book. Hard to read in sections, as it is written in very verbose, antiquated English.
I would recommend it if you are interested in Economics and want to gain a perspective from first principles. ( )
The annual labour of every nation is the fund which originally supplies it with all the necessaries and conveniences of life which it annually consumes, and which consist always either in the immediate produce of that labour, or in what is purchased with that produce from other nations.
Quotations
It is not from the benevolence of the butcher, the brewer, or the baker, that we expect our dinner, but from their regard to their own interest. We address ourselves, not to their humanity but to their self-love, and never talk to them of our own necessities but of their advantages.
The real price of everything, what everything really costs to the man who wants to acquire it, is the toil and trouble of acquiring it.
Labor...is the only universal, as well as the only accurate measure of value, or the only standard by which we can compare the values of different commodities at all times and at all places.
The property which every man has is his own labor, as it is the original foundation of all other property, so it is the most sacred and inviolable.
The interest of the dealers...in any particular branch of trade or manufactures is always in some respects different from, and even opposite to, that of the public.
To give the monopoly of the home-market to the produce of domestic industry...is in some measure to direct private people in what manner they ought to employ their capitals, and must, in almost all cases, be either a useless or a hurtful regulation.
To prohibit a great people...from making all that they can of every part of their own produce, or from employing their stock and industry in the way that they judge most advantageous to themselves, is a manifest violation of the most sacred rights of mankind.
A tax which tended to drive away stock from any particular country, would so far tend to dry up every source of revenue, both to the sovereign and to the society. Not only the profits of stock, but the rent of land and the wages of labor, would necessarily be more or less diminished by its removal.
…by directing that industry in such a manner as its produce may be of the greatest value, he intends only his own gain, and he is in this, as in many other cases, led by an invisible hand to promote an end which was no part of his intention. Nor is it always the worse for the society that it was no part of it. By pursuing his own interest he frequently promotes that of the society more effectually than when he really intends to promote it.
Last words
If any of the provinces of the British empire cannot be made to contribute towards the support of the whole empire, it is surely time that Great Britain should free herself from the expense of defending those provinces in time of war, and of supporting any part of their civil or military establishments in time of peace, and endeavour to accommodate her future views and designs to the real mediocrity of her circumstances.
Business.
Nonfiction.
The foundation for all modern economic thought and political economy, The Wealth of Nations is the magnum opus of Scottish economist Adam Smith, who introduces the world to the very idea of economics and capitalism in the modern sense of the words. Smith details his argument in five books: Book I. Of the Causes of Improvement in the Productive Power of Labour Book II. Of the Nature, Accumulation, and Employment of Stock Introduction Book III. Of the Different Progress of Opulence in Different Nations Book IV. Of Systems of Political Economy Book V. Of the Revenue of the Sovereign or Commonwealth Taken together, these books form a giant leap forward in the field of economics. A product of the "Age of Enlightenment," The Wealth of Nations is a must for all who wish to gain a better understanding of the principles upon which all modern capitalistic economies have been founded and the process of wealth creation that is engendered by those principles.
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Book description
It includes; AN INQUIRY INTO THE NATURE AND CAUSES OF THE WEALTH OF NATIONS.
Haiku summary
Legacy Library: Adam Smith
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Very detailed, great analysis and I really learned a lot from this book. Hard to read in sections, as it is written in very verbose, antiquated English.
I would recommend it if you are interested in Economics and want to gain a perspective from first principles. ( )