First published in 1776, the year in which the American Revolution officially began, Smith's "Wealth of Nations" sparked a revolution of its own. In it Smith analyzes the major elements of political economy, from market pricing and the division of labor to monetary, tax, trade, and other government policies that affect economic behavior. Throughout he offers seminal arguments for free trade, free markets, and limited government. Criticising mercantilists who sought to use the state to increase their nations' supply of precious metals, Smith points out that a nation's wealth should be measured by the well-being of its people.Prosperity in turn requires voluntary exchange of goods in a peaceful, well-ordered market. How to establish and maintain such markets? For Smith the answer lay in man's social instincts, which government may encourage by upholding social standards of decency, honesty, and virtue, but which government undermines when it unduly interferes with the intrinsically private functions of production and exchange. Social and economic order arise from the natural desires to better one's (and one's family's) lot and to gain the praise and avoid the censure of one's neighbors and business associates. Individuals behave decently and honestly because it gives them a clear conscience as well as the good reputation necessary for public approbation and sustained, profitable business relations.

亞當·斯密（Adam Smith, 1723-1790）是經濟學的主要創立者。他於1723年齣生在蘇格蘭的剋科底，青年時就讀於牛津大學。1751年到1764年在格斯哥大學擔任哲學教授。在此期間發錶瞭他的第一部著作《道德情操論》，確立瞭他在知識界的威望。但是他的不朽名聲主要在於他在1776年發錶的偉大著作《國傢財富的性質和原因的研究》。該書一舉成功，使他在餘生中享受著榮譽和愛戴。1790年，亞當·斯密在剋科底去逝。他一生未娶，沒有子女。