Adam Smith what did he do. Smith Adam - biography, facts from life, photos, background information

Adam Smith (Smith), the founder of the classical school of political economy, often called the creator of the science of the national economy, was born in Kirkcaldy (Kirkeldey), Scotland, on June 5, 1723, a few months after the death of his father, a modest customs official. As a child, Adam Smith was distinguished by timidity and taciturnity, early discovered a desire for reading and mental studies. After completing his initial studies at a local school, Smith entered the University of Glasgow in the 14th year, from where he moved to Oxford three years later. The main subject of his studies was philosophical and mathematical sciences. Further biography of Adam Smith, after graduation, is extremely poor in external events: it was entirely devoted to science and teaching. Returning to Scotland, he read for 2 years (1748-50) in Edinburgh with great success lectures on rhetoric and aesthetics; then he was invited to Glasgow to the Department of Logic, but, due to the death of Professor Craigie, Smith soon opened a course in moral philosophy and became the successor to his teacher, the illustrious Professor Hutcheson. Not being by nature a skillful orator, Smith, however, by the power of his accurate and exhaustive analysis, the richness of thought, brilliantly illuminated by a successful selection of facts, and the extraordinary clarity of presentation, gained, as a professor, extraordinary popularity, and listeners flocked to him from everywhere from Scotland and England. .

Portrait of Adam Smith

In 1759, Adam Smith published the book that he considered the main work of his life, The Theory of Moral Sentiments, which immediately put his name along with the first-class scientists of that time. In 1762 the University of Glasgow gave him the title of Doctor of Laws. In 1764, Smith leaves the department and goes on a trip to France, along with his pupil, the Duke of Buckley (Buccleugh); there he spends most of 1765 in Paris, where his close acquaintance with the physiocrats Quesnay and Turgot and other scientists is established. the neighborhood of friends; in 1775 he gives it to the press, and the next year he publishes his immortal work "" ("Inquiry into the nature and causes of the wealth of nations"). This was the most important and last work in the biography of Adam Smith, forever strengthening his place of honor in the history of social knowledge. Having soon received an official appointment in the customs administration, Smith settled in Edinburgh and spent the rest of his life there, without giving anything more significant to science. Adam Smith died July 17, 1790.

Smith's philosophical essay on moral sentiments does not occupy a prominent place in the history of ethical systems. Adjacent to his immediate predecessors, Hume and Hutcheson, Smith completed the development of the English moral philosophy of the last century. His merit lies in the fact that he singled out all the most valuable from the moral teachings of philosophers and gave this a systematic processing, based on some general provisions and making extensive use of psychological analysis. The main thing in Smith's research is the definition of sympathy, as general concept, for every kind of sympathy. Sympathy, according to Smith, serves as a source of moral approval, but for the recognition of a moral principle, a correspondence or a certain harmony between the feeling that arouses sympathy, or mood, and the circumstances that cause them is also required. In addition, the concept of moral includes the idea of ​​the consequences of an act, and hence the ideas of beneficence and retribution arise: the first implies moral approval (sympathy) of gratitude, and the second - the same approval of retribution or punishment. Adam Smith considers the idea of ​​retribution to be morally approving, and considering people as primarily egoistic beings, he finds the feeling of retribution highly expedient for the interests of community life, for it puts a limit to human egoism. By transferring our judgments of the morally approving outside of you to ourselves, Smith arrives at an analysis of the sense of duty and conscience, and shows how gradually a judgment is created in us over our deeds and how, from private observations, general rules behavior. Turning then to the definition of virtue, Adam Smith finds in it three main properties: prudence, justice and goodwill, to which, however, self-control and temperance must be added. Smith concludes his findings with a critical review of previous research. Not being valuable in its general propositions, Smith's philosophical study is remarkable for the extraordinary power of analysis in the description of individual particulars, for the extraordinary brightness and clarity of presentation. These qualities determined the great success of the book in the public: during the life of the author, it was published six times and was translated into many European languages. Distinctive feature The moral research of Adam Smith, which was reflected in his political views, is a belief in the expediency of the existing, in the pre-established harmony of the world order, the maintenance of which is served by all the individual aspirations of individuals.

Incomparably greater value had "Study on the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations" by Smith, devoted to the study of the phenomena of the national economy. While in the sphere of philosophical thinking he did not leave students, and the further development of ethical teachings went along new paths, in the field of economics Smith founded a school and paved the way along which science, despite the newly emerging directions, continues to develop to this day.

(June 1723 - 07/17/1790), Scottish economist and

philosopher, one of the founders of modern economics

theories.

short biography

Adam Smith

Scottish economist and

philosopher, one of the greatest representatives
classical political economy, was born in
town of Kirkcaldy (Scotland) in June 1723
(exact date his birth is unknown) and
baptized June 5th in Kirkcaldy, Scotland
County of Fife, in the family of a customs official.
His father died 6 months before Adam was born.
At the age of 4 he was kidnapped by gypsies,
but is quickly rescued by his uncle and returned to his mother. It is assumed that
Adam was the only child in the family, as nowhere to be found
records of his siblings.

In 1737 he entered the University of Glasgow. There, under the guidance
Francis Hutcheson, he studied the ethical foundations of philosophy. Hutcheson
had a strong influence on his worldview.

In 1740 he received a master's degree in arts and a private scholarship for
continue their studies at Oxford, where at Balliol College of Oxford
He studied at the university until 1746. However, he was not satisfied
level of teaching, since most of the professors did not even read
his lectures. Smith returns to Edinburgh intending to
self-education and lecturing. In 1748, under the patronage
Lord Cames, he starts lecturing on rhetoric, art
writing letters, and later on economic philosophy.

In 1748, under the auspices of Lord Cames, Smith began to read
public lectures on literature and natural law in Edinburgh,
then in rhetoric, the art of writing letters, and later on
economic philosophy, as well as on the subject of "achieving wealth",
where he first detailed the economic philosophy of "obvious
and a simple system of natural liberty,” and so on until 1750.

From 1751 Smith was a professor of logic at the University of Glasgow, from 1752 a professor
moral philosophy. In 1755 he published his first articles in the journal
"Edinburgh Review" ("Edinburgh Review"). In 1759 Smith issued in
light philosophical work on ethics "The Theory of Moral Sentiments",
brought him international fame. In 1762 Smith received
scientific degree of doctor of jurisprudence.

Subsequently, his lectures were reflected in the most famous
Adam Smith: An Inquiry into the Nature and Cause of Wealth
peoples." During Smith's lifetime, the book withstood 5 English and several
foreign publications and translations.

Around 1750, Adam Smith met David Hume,
who was almost a decade older than him. Their work on history
politics, philosophy, economics and religion show the similarity of their
views. Their alliance played one of the most important roles in the period
the rise of the Scottish Enlightenment.

In 1781, at only 28 years old, Smith was appointed professor of
logic at the University of Glasgow, at the end of the year he moved to the department
moral philosophy, which he taught until 1764. He was reading
lectures on rhetoric, ethics, jurisprudence and political economy.
Written by Adam Smith in 1759 scientific work"Theory
moral feelings" containing materials from his lectures brought him
fame. The article discussed the standards of ethical behavior,
that keep society in a state of stability.
However, the scientific interest of A. Smith shifted to economics, partly this
was the influence of his friend, the philosopher and economist David Hume, as well as
Smith's membership in the Glasgow Political Economy Club.

In 1776, Adam Smith left the pulpit and, having accepted an offer from
political figure - the Duke of Buccleuch, to accompany in a foreign
the journey of the duke's stepson. First of all, a suggestion for Smith
was interesting in that the duke offered him a fee, much
in excess of his professorial fee. This journey lasted
over two years. Adam Smith spent a year and a half in Toulouse, two months in
Geneva, where he met Voltaire. For nine months they lived in
Paris. At this time, he closely became acquainted with French philosophers:
d'Alembert, Helvetius, Holbach, as well as with the physiocrats: F. Quesnay and
A. Turgot.

Publication in London in 1776 of the book "An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of
Wealth of Nations" (which Smith began back in Toulouse) brings Adam
Smith is widely known. The book details the consequences
economic freedom. A system that explains how free
market, is still the basis of economic education. One of
key provisions of Smith's theory - the need for liberation
economy from state regulation that impedes
natural development of the economy. According to Smith, people's desire
buy where it is cheaper and sell where it is more expensive, of course, and therefore
all protectionist duties and export incentives
harmful, like any interference with the free circulation of money. Most
Smith's famous aphorism - the invisible hand of the market - a phrase that he
used to explain selfishness as an effective lever in
resource allocation.

In 1778 Smith was appointed Commissioner of Customs for Scotland and
settles in Edinburgh.

In November 1787, Adam Smith became honorary rector
University of Glasgow.

He died July 17, 1790 in Edinburgh after a long illness.
There is a version that shortly before his death, Smith destroyed all his
manuscripts. The surviving was published in the posthumous "Experiments on
philosophical subjects" in 1795, five years after his death.

Source: Wikipedia, en.wikipedia.org

The material was prepared on the basis of information from open sources

.

At the age of 14, he entered the University of Glasgow, where he studied the ethical foundations of philosophy for two years under Francis Hutcheson. In the first year he studied logic (this was a mandatory requirement), then he moved to the class of moral philosophy; studied ancient languages ​​(especially ancient Greek), mathematics and astronomy. Adam had a reputation for strangeness - for example, among a noisy company he could suddenly think deeply - but smart person. In 1740 he entered Balliol College, Oxford, receiving a scholarship to continue his education, and graduated from it in 1746. Smith was critical of the quality of teaching at Oxford, writing in The Wealth of Nations that "at Oxford University most of the professors have, for many years, given up even the semblance of teaching altogether." At the university, he was often sick, read a lot, but did not yet show interest in economics.

In 1748, Smith began lecturing at the University of Edinburgh - under the auspices of Lord Kames (Henry Hume), whom he met during one of his trips to Edinburgh. Initially, these were lectures on English literature, later on natural law (which included jurisprudence, political doctrine, sociology and economics). It was the preparation of lectures for the students of this university that became the impetus for the formulation by Adam Smith of his ideas about the problems of economics. He began to express the ideas of economic liberalism, presumably, in 1750-1751.

The basis of the scientific theory of Adam Smith was the desire to look at a person from three sides: from the standpoint of morality and ethics, from civil and state positions, from economic positions.

Smith lived in Glasgow for 12 years, regularly leaving for 2-3 months in Edinburgh; here he was respected, made himself a circle of friends, led the life of a club man-bachelor.

Information has been preserved that Adam Smith almost got married twice, in Edinburgh and Glasgow, but for some reason this did not happen. Neither in the memoirs of his contemporaries, nor in his correspondence was there any evidence that this would seriously affect him. Smith lived with his mother (whom he survived by 6 years) and an unmarried cousin (who died two years before him). One of the contemporaries who visited Smith's house made a record, according to which the national Scottish food was served in the house, Scottish customs were observed. Smith appreciated folk songs, dances and poetry, one of his last book orders being several copies of the first published volume of poems by Robert Burns (who himself held Smith in high regard and referred to his work numerous times in his correspondence). Even though Scottish morality discouraged theater, Smith himself loved it, especially French theatre.

The source of information about the development of Smith's ideas are notes of Smith's lectures, made presumably in 1762-63 by one of his students and found by the economist Edwan Cannan. According to the lectures, Smith's course in moral philosophy was by then more of a course in sociology and political economy; materialistic ideas were expressed, as well as the beginnings of ideas that were developed in The Wealth of Nations. Other sources include sketches of the first chapters of Wealth found in the 1930s; they date from 1763. These sketches contain ideas about the role of the division of labor, the concepts of productive and unproductive labor, and so on; mercantilism is criticized and the rationale for Laissez-faire is given.

In 1764-66, Smith lived in France, being the tutor of the Duke of Buccleuch. This mentoring greatly improved his situation: he had to receive not only a salary, but also a pension, which later allowed him not to return to the University of Glasgow and work on a book. In Paris, he was present at the "mezzanine club" of François Quesnay, that is, he became personally acquainted with the ideas of the Physiocrats; however, according to the testimonies, at these meetings he listened more than he spoke. However, the scientist and writer Abbé Morellet in his memoirs said that Smith's talent was appreciated by Monsieur Turgot; he repeatedly spoke with Smith about the theory of commerce, banks, public credit, and other matters of "the great essay he was conceived." It is known from correspondence that Smith also communicated with d'Alembert and Holbach, in addition, he was introduced to the salon of Madame Geoffrin, Mademoiselle Lespinasse, visited Helvetius.

Before traveling to Paris (from December 1765 to October 1766), Smith and Buccleuch lived for a year and a half in Toulouse, and for several days in Geneva. Here Smith visited Voltaire at his Geneva estate.

The question of the influence of the Physiocrats on Smith is debatable; Dupont de Nemours believed that the main ideas of The Wealth of Nations were borrowed, and therefore Professor Cannan's discovery of lectures by a Glasgow student was extremely important as evidence that Smith had already formed the main ideas before the French trip.

After returning from France, Smith worked for six months in London as an informal expert to the Chancellor of the Exchequer, and from the spring of 1767 he lived in reclusion in Kirkcaldy for six years, working on a book. At the same time, he did not write the book himself, but dictated to the secretary, after which he corrected and processed the manuscript and gave it to be rewritten cleanly. He complained that intense monotonous work was undermining his health, and in 1773, leaving for London, he even considered it necessary to formally transfer the rights to his literary heritage to Hume. He himself believed that he was going to London with a finished manuscript, however, in fact, in London it took him more than two years to finalize, taking into account new statistical information and other publications. In the process of revision, for ease of understanding, he excluded most of the references to the works of other authors.

Smith became world famous after the publication of the book An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations in 1776. This book analyzes in detail how the economy could operate in complete economic freedom and exposes everything that prevents it. The book substantiates the concept of laissez-faire (the principle of freedom of economic development), shows the socially useful role of individual egoism, emphasizes the special importance of the division of labor and the vastness of the market for the growth of labor productivity and national welfare. The Wealth of Nations opened economics as a science based on the doctrine of free enterprise.

Portrait of Adam Smith by John Kay

Adam Smith was slightly above average height; had regular features, blue-gray eyes, a large straight nose and a straight figure. He dressed discreetly, wore a wig, liked to walk with a bamboo cane on his shoulder, and sometimes talked to himself.

Ideas by Adam Smith.

The development of industrial production in the 18th century led to an increase in the social division of labor, which required an increase in the role of trade and money circulation. The emerging practice came into conflict with the prevailing ideas and traditions in the economic sphere. There was a need to revise the existing economic theories. Smith's materialism allowed him to formulate the idea of ​​the objectivity of economic laws.

The existence of a natural order requires a "system of natural liberty", of which Smith saw private property as the basis.

According to some accounts, in Spain, Smith's book was initially banned by the Inquisition. The reason for the ban was that in Spain they followed the events of the French Revolution very carefully, including trying to prevent the spread of ideas of the destruction of the feudal system of government. Books coming from France were very carefully studied to identify revolutionary ideas. The indication in the French edition of the original publication of The Wealth of Nations in London was considered by the Inquisitorial censors in 1791 to be a fabrication. The work was recommended for a ban. Smith's ideas about defending usury and selfishness were recognized as scandalous and anti-evangelical. the rebels were asked about the sources of their thoughts; Smith's name appeared several times in responses from the Bank of England, making him the first Scot to appear on an English banknote.

A large monument to Smith by Alexander Stoddart was unveiled on 4 July 2008 in Edinburgh. It is 3 meters high, made of bronze and located in Parliament Square. The 20th-century sculptor Jim Sanborn created several monuments to Smith's work: Central Connecticut University houses "circulating capital," a tall inverted cone with an extract from The Wealth of Nations in the lower half and the same text in binary code in the upper half. The "Adam Smith Spinning Top" is located at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte, and another monument to Smith stands at the University of Cleveland.

Adam Smith Medal.

The merits of many great figures are “perpetuated” in the names of squares, streets, avenues, scientific and educational institutions, nominal prizes are established, state and public awards are issued in the name of such people ...

The glory of Adam Smith also did not go unnoticed for such perpetuation.

European Scientific and Industrial Consortium (EUROPEAN SCIENTIFIC AND INDUSTRIAL CONSORTIUM "ESIC"), as one of its activities, develops and implements public awards (medals and diplomas), which awards the best specialists and experts in various fields of science and industry.

ESIC has established the ADAM SMITH MEDAL * (MEDAL EUROPEAN SCIENTIFIC AND INDUSTRIAL CONSORTIUM "ESIC" - ADAM SMITH), which serves as a confirmation of public recognition of the merits of specialists and scientists in the field of economics and finance.

The medal is awarded to highly professional specialists in the field of economics and finance for: personal merits in the improvement of the global financial system, the formation and development of its individual institutions; development of new scientific directions in the economy and solution of urgent social and economic problems; training of qualified personnel in the field of economics and finance.

Today invisible hand concept, used by Adam Smith, in (micro-macro) is represented as a whole theory of the invisible hand of the market regulating without any intervention all disproportions in the economy. but Adam Smith the principle of the invisible hand of the market only to substantiate his assumption that objective laws operate in the economy, which can be studied with the help of abstraction, as in other sciences. Another provision on the beneficial consequences for the economy from the reduction of the role of the state, which was expressed by Adam Smith liberalism Today I took it as my main postulate.

Classical political economy by Adam Smith also considers it its founder due to the fact that economic theory Adam Smith allowed to substantiate the concepts of capital and surplus value. Economic views of Adam Smith so far ahead of their time that even today some concepts in economics are associated with his name, for example, Adam Smith's labor theory of value.

Biography of Adam Smith, of course, must be in everyone, but for me it is more important that Adam Smith division of labor considered the main reason for economic relations. The entire development of human society, changes in the forms of states and the economy is consequences of the division of labor among people on planet earth. The social division of labor is the reason not only for the level of production achieved by mankind as a result of scientific and technological progress, but also in general for the possibility of increasing the number of population to the current level.

The article was reprinted from a site, access to which is currently restricted, so there is no point in giving a link. The author has liberal views, which in the Russian version turn out to be ideologized no less than Marxist. It must be said that Karl Marx himself did not like Adam Smith, considering the position of Adam Smith, as well as the author of the article, not on his side. Apparently, the fault of Adam Smith in ignorance of the postulates of future economic doctrines.

Biography of Adam Smith

Today, few details of Adam Smith's personal life are known, rather they themselves works by Adam Smith are a detailed description of contemporary life. adam smith writings he filled his own with life examples, which are his impressions of travels in France, and other comparisons of the economy of England with the situation in other countries. Of course, for such an outstanding economist as Adam Smith Wikipedia contains an Adam Smith biography page. In the USSR, a book was published in the series "The Life of Remarkable People" Adam Smith.

Adam Smith short biography

Full title Adam Smith books – « An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations” – leaves no doubt that its main subject is economic development. This is clear from the way he distinguishes between productive and unproductive labor, how he builds a hierarchy of productivity of industries - and most of all from the way he talks about the directions of economic policy, its impact on economic growth in the past, as well as on the development of the economy. various countries during his lifetime.

But what distinguishes Smith's theory of economic development is the way in which he often refers to the peculiarities of the social conditions that determine material interests. Adam Smith, so often accused of adhering to the vulgar doctrine of spontaneous conciliation of interests, emphasizes that the powerful motive power of self-interest operates in accordance with the interests of society only in well-defined institutional conditions.

To show this, it will suffice to consider one of his discussions about the services of the state and (or) about educational institutions. Notable is his derogatory critique of English university education, which focuses on the fact that Oxford and Cambridge universities lack any kind of “pay for performance”: colleges receive huge donations, are run by teachers themselves, the profit of most teachers is paid from donation funds, the presence of students on classes are mostly forced, and as a result, the profit of teachers is in no way connected with their professional qualities as teachers or scientists. In public schools, the situation is much better, mainly because "the remuneration of a school teacher depends mainly, and in some cases entirely, on the payment made by his students." He welcomed state assistance in providing school buildings, but preferred that teachers be paid for by private fees plus, in addition, a small fixed amount in the form of a stipend. His idea was that, while receiving a fixed salary, the teacher would never work with full effort.

Economic theory of Adam Smith

Adam Smith made a significant contribution to the analysis of the economic laws of capitalism. Contribution of Adam Smith development of economic laws consists, first of all, in the substantiation and active implementation of the idea of ​​"natural order" in the development of social production, the idea of ​​the conditionality of social production by material factors. It can be said without exaggeration that for Smith all economic processes and categories were manifestations of the "natural order". Already in the introduction to The Wealth of Nations, he wrote: “The annual labor of every nation is the initial fund, which provides it with all the products necessary for the existence and convenience of life ...”. This shows that the author, on the whole, has a materialistic understanding of the wealth of peoples, the most important category of his system. Its emergence and growth are derived not from something ideal, but from a material factor - social labor.

The scientist characterized nature in a similar way. He emphasized: "which leads to such incomes is by no means the result of someone's wisdom, which foresaw and realized the general welfare that would be generated by him ...". Basically, the origin and essence of money and many other economic categories were explained materialistically. Moreover, Adam Smith's generally materialistic view of the development of social production was reinforced by his sharply negative attitude towards religion. He not only ranked priests among the unproductive strata of the population, but also dismissively referred them to one of the most frivolous professions.

Smith introduced into the development of economic laws "the deepening of scientific abstractions" in the analysis of social production. The deepening and expansion of the method of scientific abstraction allowed Adam Smith to see and explore a number of essential connections of social production. This is a significant contribution of the great scientist to the development of economic laws. Developing the labor theory of value, A. Smith actually substantiated the law of value. He, for example, argued: “Thus, labor alone ... is the only valid measure by which at all times and in all places it is possible to evaluate and compare the value of all goods.”

The great merit of the author of The Wealth of Nations lies not only in the fact that he recognized the inevitability of the exchange of goods in accordance with their value. He also tried to reveal the mechanism of operation of the law of value through fluctuations in market prices around value (around the "natural price"). “The actual price at which a product is usually sold,” he wrote, “is called its market price. It may either exceed its natural price, or be below it, or exactly coincide with it. Moreover, the main reason for such fluctuations is also being clarified - the ratio between the demand for goods and their supply.

It is noteworthy that Adam Smith tries to show the fundamental margin between profit and salary. He definitely does not agree to consider the return on capital as the payment for the work of a businessman in supervision and management. He is quite sure that "this profit ... is established on a completely different basis and does not stand in any accordance with the quantity, severity or complexity of this supposed work of supervision and management." Profit in its dynamics also conflicts with wages: "The increase in capital, which increases wages, leads to a decrease in profits." According to K. Marx, "Smith caught the true origin of surplus value", established the law of its origin.

Investigating market competition, the Scottish economist also presciently saw the stable dependence of market prices on the interaction between the demand for goods and their supply. " Market price of each individual product, we read, is determined by the relation between the quantity actually brought to the market and the demand for it…”. Further, the absolute demand and the actual demand are specifically considered, the examples show a significant margin between them. All this means that A. Smith definitely felt the operation of the law of supply and demand.

Adam Smith made certain contributions to the development of many other economic laws. And this contribution is undoubtedly huge. But it is worth, in my opinion, to note the general: the peculiar interpretation and consideration of various economic laws by Smith to a certain extent contributed to their further development in economic science.

Sources:

• taina.aib.ru Mystery of the name
• en.wikipedia.org Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia economicsism stands on the postulate of the eternity of capitalism.

Therefore, economicsism cannot be considered a continuation of the ideas of Adam Smith, since author of The Wealth of Nations predicted the end of capitalism, when in such a closed system as the entire population of the Earth will reach its limit. If the entire population of the world is involved in a single system of division of labor (as it still does not take place today, but we can say that the American system has become a global system of division of labor), then the development of the economy on the principles of capitalism will stop (which is happening before our eyes).

To continue its development, Mankind will have to look for new ways to create demand in the economy, which means the inevitable rejection of capitalism. However, little is left of capitalism.

However, not only in Russia people feel the failure economics as the main economic doctrine of capitalism and therefore turn to Marxism. It's just that other than about Marxism, people don't know about. That is why Marxism has strongly fermented in the minds of Russians, who taught Marxism in schools. However, Marxism itself, as early as the beginning of the 20th century, was emasculated into the theory of class struggle, which is rather strange given the absence of obvious signs of the classes themselves today. To the question - where did the proletariat go? - not a single communist party in the world will answer.

Sites on NEOCONOMICS

• website world crisis worldcrisis.ru

SMITH (Smith) Adam (1723-90), Scottish economist and philosopher, one of the largest representatives of classical political economy. In "Study on the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations" (1776) he summarized the century-old development of this trend of economic thought, considered the theory of value and distribution of income, capital and its accumulation, the economic history of Western Europe, views on economic policy, state finances. He approached the economy as a system in which there are objective laws that can be known. During Smith's lifetime, the book went through 5 English and several foreign editions and translations.

CMIT (Smith) Adam (baptized April 5, 1723, Kirkcaldy, Scotland - July 17, 1790, Edinburgh), British (Scottish) economist and philosopher. He created the theory of labor value and substantiated the need for a possible liberation of the market economy from government intervention.

Life and scientific activity

Born in the family of a customs official. He studied at school for several years, then entered the University of Glasgow (1737) at the Faculty of Moral Philosophy. In 1740 he received a master's degree in arts and a private scholarship to continue his studies at Oxford, where he studied philosophy and literature until 1746.

In 1748-50 Smith lectured publicly on literature and natural law in Edinburgh. Since 1751 professor of logic at the University of Glasgow, since 1752 - professor of moral philosophy. In 1755 he published his first articles in the Edinburgh Review (Edinbourgh Review). In 1759 he published a philosophical work on ethics, The Theory of Moral Sentiments, which brought him international fame. In 1762 Smith received the degree of Doctor of Laws.

In 1764 he left teaching and went to the Continent as tutor to the young Duke of Buccleuch. In 1764-66 he visited Toulouse, Geneva, Paris, met with Voltaire, Helvetius, Holbach, Diderot, d "Alembert, Physiocrats. Upon returning to his homeland, he lived in Kirkcaldy (until 1773), and then in London, devoted himself entirely to work on the fundamental The work An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations, the first edition of which appeared in 1776.

From 1778 Smith held the post of customs officer in Edinburgh, where he spent last years own life.

Philosophical and economic views

The economic theory that Smith outlined in The Wealth of Nations was closely connected with his system of philosophical ideas about man and society. Smith saw the main driver of human actions in selfishness, in the desire of each individual to improve his position. However, according to him, in society, the selfish aspirations of people mutually limit each other, forming together a harmonious balance of contradictions, which is a reflection of the harmony established from above and reigning in the Universe. Competition in the economy, the desire of each for personal gain ensure the development of production and, ultimately, the growth of social welfare.

One of the key provisions of Smith's theory is the need to free the economy from state regulation, which hinders the natural development of the economy. He sharply criticized the then dominant economic policy of mercantilism, aimed at ensuring a positive balance in foreign trade through a system of prohibitive measures. According to Smith, the desire of people to buy where it is cheaper, and to sell where it is more expensive, is natural, and therefore all protectionist duties and incentive premiums for exports are harmful, like any obstacles to the free circulation of money.

Arguing with the theorists of mercantilism, who identified wealth with precious metals, and with the physiocrats, who saw the source of wealth exclusively in agriculture, Smith argued that wealth is created by all types of productive labor. Labor, he argued, also acts as a measure of the value of a commodity. At the same time, however, Smith (unlike the economists of the 19th century - D. Ricardo, K. Marx, etc.) did not mean the amount of labor that was spent on the production of a product, but that which can be purchased for this product. Money is only one of the types of goods, not being the main goal of production.

Smith associated the well-being of society with the growth of labor productivity. Most effective tool he considered the division of labor and specialization to be its increase, referring to the pin manufactory, which has since become a classic example. However, the degree of division of labor, he emphasized, is directly related to the size of the market: the wider the market, the higher the level of specialization of the producers acting on it. From this followed the conclusion that it was necessary to abolish such restrictions for the free development of the market as monopolies, guild privileges, laws on settled life, compulsory apprenticeship, etc.

According to Smith's theory, the initial value of the product during distribution is divided into three parts: wages, profit and rent. With the growth of labor productivity, he noted, there is an increase in wages and rents, but the share of profit in the newly produced value decreases. The total social product is divided into two main parts: the first - capital - serves to maintain and expand production (this includes the wages of workers), the second goes to consumption by the unproductive classes of society (owners of land and capital, civil servants, military men, scientists, freelancers). etc.). The well-being of society also depends on the ratio of these two parts: the larger the share of capital, the faster social wealth grows, and, conversely, the more funds are spent on unproductive consumption (primarily by the state), the poorer the nation.

However, Smith did not seek to nullify the influence of the state on the economy. The state, in his opinion, should play the role of an arbitrator, as well as carry out those socially necessary economic measures that are beyond the power of private capital.