The Essence of Adam Smith's Wealth of Nations

Adam Smith's Wealth of Nations is widely regarded as the first modern work of economics and a bible of free market capitalism, although both claims are vigorously disputed. What cannot be disputed is that it offers a stinging indictment of what we today call "crony capitalism," along with a masterful explanation of why such a system impoverishes the whole world. Originally published in 1776 as An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations, it continues to be enormously influential. Currents of Smith's thought run through the works of writers as diverse as Karl Marx, John Maynard Keynes, Noam Chomsky, and Milton Friedman.