A. Smith's economic ideas. Key words: "invisible hand", "natural law", the division of labor, the doctrine of money and income, the labor theory of value, productive and unproductive labor.
In his first book, "The Theory of Moral Sentiments," Smith proposed the idea of an invisible hand—the tendency of free markets to regulate themselves by means of competition, supply and demand, and self-interest.Smith is also known for creating the concept of gross domestic product (GDP) and for his theory of compensating wage differentials. According to this theory, dangerous or undesirable jobs tend to pay higher wages as a way of attracting workers to these positions.Smith's most notable contribution to the field of economics was his 1776 book, "An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations."
Early life and education of A. Smith Key words: Smith’s (1723-1790) life,
was a Scottish[a] economist, philosopher as well as a moral philosopher, a pioneer of political economy, and a key figure during the Scottish Enlightenment, also known as ''The Father of Economics''or ''The Father of Capitalism''. Smith wrote two classic works, The Theory of Moral Sentiments (1759) and An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations (1776). The latter, often abbreviated as The Wealth of Nations, is considered his magnum opus and the first modern work of economics. In his work, Adam Smith introduced his theory of absolute advantage.
Smith studied social philosophy at the University of Glasgow and at Balliol College, Oxford, where he was one of the first students to benefit from scholarships set up by fellow Scot John Snell. Interesting Background Info Adam Smith, born in rural Scotland in 1723, was kidnapped by gypsies at the age of four but returned to his family. A student at Oxford, he was Professor of Moral Philosophy at the University of Glasgow at twenty-eight and established himself as a central figure in European intellectual life in 1759 with the publication of The Theory of Moral Sentiments. This led to the opportunity to tour France as the private tutor of a young member of the nobility and allowed him to meet the leading French economist of the day, François Quesnay, whose tableau économque, an anticipation of modern input-output tables, depicted the interdependent nature of the flow of goods and services throughout the economy.