Adam Smith's The "Wealth of Nations": A Modern-day Interpretation of an Economic Classic

by Karen McCreadie

"Adam Smith's The Wealth of Nations" was the first comprehensive treatment of political economy. Published in 1776, "The Wealth of Nations" was originally released for a very specific audience; the British Parliament, setting clearly defined arguments for peace and co-operation with their troublesome colonials across the Atlantic. Today it is considered one of the most famous books ever written. Here, Smith's text is interpreted for the modern day world of finance, business and economics. Karen McCreadie's interpretation is not a substitute for the original; its purpose is simply to illustrate the timeless nature of Smith's insights by bringing them to life through 21st century examples. Given the state of our economy this brilliant interpretation couldn't be more timely.

Genres: Economics, Nonfiction, History

128 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 2009

Reviews

[Kiridaren Jayakumar · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is exciting because it shows every Adam Smith's words and explained to us.

But at the closing few lines, contemporary writer KarenMcGreadie criticized and wrote some kind of "contemporary critique" of Adam Smith's ideology.

Perfect book to understand how we are taught same substance over and over again, with little changes to the field. The non-conformist elegant way of the writer showing the 21st century economical problems.

For example, a short one, Adam did not know how market will be manipulated today, how he forgot to include the morality and greed of people and also how he did not deal with the huge consumerism and surplus, in short he thought humans are rational being that will share.

[Asad · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book was okay, but nothing special.

McCreadie's choice to write brief sections on many different points rather than focus on providing more thorough analysis of fewer key ideas gives the feeling of a lack of depth.

Still, it's worth a skim through if you see it in a library and have an interest in the subject matter; I wouldn't recommend buying it.

[Jan Buljubašić · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book is not meant for young people like me, mainly because you wouldn’t understand 50% of the book if you don’t own a company or work full time. But, this book brings Adam Smith’s often missintepreted ideas of what I would call an “ethical capitalism”. The author of this book is targeting adult entrepreneurs (which she openly admitted in one of the chapters), but that doesn’t mean that some future entrepreneurs shouldn’t read it. That’s why I don’t recommend this book to everyone, as some would consider it boring and tough to read, such as myself. If you love money and finances, you want to learn how the economy of the western world works and you are considering starting your own business some day, you should read this book. If you don’t want any of that, don’t bother reading this.

[Rhea Sharma · Rating 2 out of 5]

hardly comprehensible.

[Kevin Perkins · Rating 3 out of 5]

"The Wealth of Nations", published in 1776, offers a critical explanation of the capitalist market system based on two major driving forces: "self-interest and competition, vis via the "Invisible Hand." These two forces were responsible for capitalism, and when left uninterrupted would naturally ensure the long-standing stability and success of capitalism. Smith was also an ardent proponent of "Laissez-Faire." Essentially this was the belief in "Hands Off!", that the market should remain free and without the interference of government intervention. Smith fervently believed that any regulation of the market endangered the ideal and optimal market mechanism. I tend to agree with his arguments and support the concept of maintaining a freely operating capitalist market driven by self-interest and inherent intense competition. Smith embraced and defined the driving forces of capitalism, and despite being pessimistic and warry of the deep avarice of merchants to abuse the workforce, he ultimately was optimistic about long term stability and developments. As Adam Smith so eloquently stated, "Capitalism is the free action of profit-seeking men bound together only by the market itself."
If you want a more detailed look into the roots of our current capitalist business driven society this book offers a zoom in approach to understand the basis and driving forces of the origins of capitalism in America. I think if you read, digest, and debate the issues covered you will find the book to be delightfully intriguing and motivational. A question to ask yourself is during periods of economic uncertainties what keeps the market and system from complete utter collapse? It really makes you wonder! What if? Why? and how?

[Lena Mrshmlow · Rating 4 out of 5]

3 mins ·
#أن_تعرف_أكثر 😄
#حقك_تعرف 💪
( ثروات الأمم ----- لادم سميث ) 💸💸💸💸💵💵💵💵💵💵
لقد نصحني البعض مشكورين بقرأة كتاب "ثروة الأمم" آدم سميث والذ يعد بدوره من أهم الكتب الاقتصادية الكلاسيكية منذ نشره في 1776 حتى يومنا هذا، والذي تحدث فيه عن عالم الأعمال من ناحية اقتصادية، واجتماعية، مالية، وسياسية، إلى جانب الفلسفة، والتاريخ.
يتكون "ثروة الأمم" من خمسة مجلدات منفصلة؛ الثلاثة الأولى عن تقسيم العمل، وأصول المال، الأجور، الأرباح، الإيجار، والأسهم، أما المجلد الرابع فهو عن المستعمرات البريطانية بشكل خاص، والخامس عن مستوى التدخل المقيد للدولة في النشاط الاقتصادي؛ حيث حصره في تمويل التعليم، النقل، القضاء، والدفاع.
يشار لكتاب سميث على أنه "الوثيقة التأسيسية للصناعة والاقتصاد التقليدي"، كما أنه "مهّد الطريق للرأسمالية الحديثة"، وجعل من صاحبه "أبًا للاقتصاد الكلاسيكي". علما بإن ادم سميث ركز وبشكل كبير على ضرورة أن تكون الرأسمالية المطبقة ، ذات طابع وأساس أخلاقي وإنساني وتراعي الضمير والرحمة في نهجها العملي.
في الكتاب الذي يحتوي 53 نقطة رئيسية، مستخلصة من المجلدات الخمسة، مع شرح بسيط لكل منها، من خلال أمثلة وأحداث مالية حديثة؛ لذلك فقراءته ليست "بديلاً عن الكتاب الأصلي ، ولكنه مفيد جدا وخفيف لطيف. من تلك المواضيع
: أهمية الحدس، العادة وخلق الموهبة، مصدر الأموال، ما القيمة؟ ، تحديد السعر في السوق، الاحتكار، زيادة الرواتب، التعليم، الادخار، تقليل النفقات، كيفية تحسين الإنتاجية، أهمية التفكير بعيد المدى،... .

الكتاب لطيف جدا و منظم، واضح، وأسلوبه بسيط، تستطيع قرائته بيوم أو يوميين منه . أدناه بعض ما ذكر في الكتاب🥰

[Slava D]

After reading this book, I understood how little they teach us at school. As a person who did economics for GCSE and 2 years of high level IB, I realised that this guy was a genius and really the ''Father of Economics''. Also quite is quite funny to see how even if nowadays we are so mobile and the technologies have overtaken us, but actually nothing has changed that much.

[Tallulah · Rating 2 out of 5]

Read this because I don't want to read the entirety of Wealth of Nations but now I feel like I should anyway. This is a very sort of biased, outdated, extremely brief overview of some of the overarching concepts in WoN, and I did not find it very useful.

[Sofia · Rating 2 out of 5]

hm so i love adam smith as much as the next girl but the layout of this book didn't lend itself to an enjoyable experience. also i guess for the economics talk it was a bit long to read something that is so obvious but ig that's not AS's fault.

2/5 stars

[Anurag · Rating 2 out of 5]

Book is based on capitalism and summarised version of original work by Adam Smith.

[Ahmed El-dressi · Rating 3 out of 5]

كتاب جيد جدًا ساهم بشكل بسيط في تلخيص كتاب سميث ثروة الأمم .. تمنّيت لو أنّ كان أطول وأشمل وأكثر تنوعًا في الأفكار.

[Adrianus Venda · Rating 2 out of 5]

Terjemahan bahasa Indonesia dari buku ini terasa begitu janggal. Terlampau banyak ambivalensi di dalamnya. Di satu sisi Karen kerap mengkritik kapitalisme dari aspek moral. Di sisi lain, deskripsi konsep-konsep dasar kapitalisme klasik yang terlampau teknis dan melimpahnya kalimat-kalimat penyemangat bagi para majikan, justru membuat buku ini terkesan mirip dengan tulisan para motivator yang menulis untuk meningkatkan jumlah wirausahawan pada sebuah negara berkembang. Alih-alih menjernihkan, tulisan macam ini justru terkesan reduksionis sehingga pembaca tidak mendapatkan penjelasan mendetail tentang konsep-konsep dasar dalam kapitalisme klasik. Kelebihan buku ini hanya satu: mudah dipahami oleh pemula yang kekurangan referensi teoritik karya Adam Smith

[Jonasz · Rating 3 out of 5]

Dobre dla osób pragnących sobie przypomnieć o czym było "Bogactwo narodów" Smitha, albo dla chcących dowiedzieć się jak przemyślenia ekonomisty z XVII wieku odnajdują się w dzisiejszym świecie.

[Bartosz Kraszewski · Rating 2 out of 5]

Adam Smiths words still makes sense but I strongly disagree with author comments

[Maciej Bliziński · Rating 4 out of 5]

I've read Smith's original work some to months ago, and I used this short book to refresh and repeat the main thoughts of the book. McCreadie provided short commentary with modern context. It was a good check to confirm if I understood Smith correctly, and haven't missed anything major.