Adam Smith
Adam Smith
Personal Background
Adam Smith was born in 1723 in Kirkcaldy in Scotland and was raised by his widowed mother. Adam Smith’s educated began at a local district school. In the year 1737, Smith was sent to the Glasgow College, later he also studied at the Baliol College in the Oxford University. Smith graduated with an extensive understanding of European literature and started to hate the school of English thought. In the year 1751, Smith was hired by the Glasgow University as the professor of logic. In the year 1752, Smith transferred to the moral philosophy. Smith’s lectures covered subjects such as rhetoric, ethics, political economy, and jurisprudence. In the year 1778, Smith was appointed as the commissioner of customs and he played a major role in enforcing laws against smuggling (Library of Economics and Liberty, 2008).
Philosophy
Adam Smith is remembered for his explanation of the way rational self in a free market economy creates economic well-being. His free market policies create the image that he supported non-intervention of government, but in reality Smith supported limited government. Adam Smith used to endorse enforcement of contracts by the government and granting patents and copyrights for encouraging new ideas and inventions. Smith used economics not only for explaining pin production or differences in wage between hangmen and butchers, but he also used it to address several pressing political issues. Smith used to advocate minimal state role and his economic thought overlaps with the contemporary libertarian thought (The University of Tennessee, n.d.).
Awards and Recognition
The major accomplishments of Adam Smith’s life were being an important figure in the Scottish Enlightenment and the pioneer of political economy. Apart from that, Adam Smith is often called the first free-market supporting economist and the creator of modern economics. Another achievement includes writing books such as The Wealth of Nations and The Theory of Moral Sentiments, which discussed his opinion on division of labour, capitalism and human emotions.
Economic Thought
Adam Smith belonged to the mercantilism economic thought; in fact Smith coined the term mercantile system. Smith believed that economic nationalism is needed for building a powerful and wealthy state. Smith used to explain that mercantile system is needed for enriching the country by encouraging exports and restraining imports. According to Smith, mercantile system is needed for serving the interest of producers and merchants and achieving a favourable balance of trade.
Contributions
The main contribution of Adam Smith to economics was laying the foundations for measuring a wealth of a nation, not through its gold reserves; rather through the levels of production. Smith also championed free-market capitalism and considered it as the most efficient economic system. Smith was endorsed a laissez-faire approach towards economies, which requires governments to intervene as less as possible in case of trade and business practices. The biggest contribution of Adam Smith was his book ‘The Wealth of Nations’, which not had a historical relevance and contribution to the subject, but it also plays an important role in the modern study of political economics (Kucukaksoy, 2011).
References
Kucukaksoy, I. (2011). Adam Smith's conceptual contributions to international economics: Based on the Wealth of Nations. BEH, 4(1), 108-119. doi:10.15208/beh.2011.9
Library of Economics and Liberty. (2008). Adam Smith (1723-1790). Retrieved 19 May 2016 from, http://www.iep.utm.edu/smith/
The University of Tennessee. (n.d.). Adam Smith (1723—1790). Retrieved 19 May 2016 from, http://www.econlib.org/library/Enc/bios/Smith.html
