Father of Economics: If you are curious about the world of money, business, and trade you must know about the man called the father of economics. This title belongs to a Scottish philosopher named Adam Smith. 

He is recognized as the father of economics in the world because he introduced many basic ideas that we still use today. His work changed the way people thought about wealth and how countries grow rich. This makes him one of the most important people in the history of this subject. 

About Adam Smith

Adam Smith was born in Scotland in 1723. He was not an economist in the way we use the word today he was a social philosopher. Smith was a professor at the University of Glasgow where he taught moral philosophy. This means he thought a lot about how humans act what is right and wrong and how society works. His ideas about people and their behavior became the foundation for his ideas about money and markets.

Why is Adam Smith Known as Father of Economics?

Adam Smith father of economics because of his most famous book. In 1776, he published a huge book called An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations. We usually just call it The Wealth of Nations.

This book was the first complete work that explained how the economy of a nation works. It explained how a country’s wealth does not come from having lots of gold. Instead, Smith argued that a nation’s wealth comes from the things its people produce and trade.

In this book he shared three very powerful ideas:

The Invisible Hand

This is Adam Smith’s most famous idea. He said that when people try to earn money for themselves, they also end up helping everyone else.

Think of a baker. The baker does not make bread to be kind to the people in the town. He makes it because he wants to earn money.  However, by working to make a profit, the baker provides the town with the bread they need. It is as if an invisible hand is guiding his self-interest to benefit the entire community.

Division of Labor

Smith explained that splitting up a big job into many small, simple tasks makes production much faster. This idea is called the Division of Labor.

He used the famous example of a pin factory. If one person tries to do all the steps to make a pin, they might make only one pin a day. But if the work is divided, one person cuts the wire another sharpens it and another puts on the head ten workers can make thousands of pins a day. This focus on specialization is how factories and businesses become more productive.

Free Markets

Smith believed that the government should not control businesses or trade too much. He argued for a free market where competition and supply and demand set the prices, not the government. He felt that having too many rules would stop the market from growing. This idea of minimal government interference is called Laissez-faire.

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Adam Smith Main Work

Though Adam Smith is known for The Wealth of Nations he wrote another important book earlier in his life: 

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