Adam Smith’s Legacy Economics, the study of how society, governments, businesses, and people use resources, is one of the most important fields in our society. Many people may not know who founded this very important social science. Adam Smith, Scottish philosopher, is known as the Father of Economics. Due to his philosophy and ideas centered around economic growth, he has made important lasting contributions to our society.
As an Enlightenment thinker, Adam Smith´s background paved the way for his ideas. His many roles as a philosopher educator, journalist, scholar, economist, and political scientist gave him a diverse wealth of knowledge. It all started when Adam Smith was baptized June 5, 1723 in Kirkcaldy, Scotland and then died July
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Adam Smith never married. He was the son by second marriage of Adam Smith. He went to elementary school in Kirkcaldy. At the age of 4 he was captured and then was abandoned by his captors. He was later rescued. The “Theory of Moral Sentiments” was Adam’s first published work. In his book he described the theory of “human nature”. Smith wrote that he saw humans as creatures driven by passions. Adam wrote many quotes such as “It is not from the benevolence of the butcher, the brewer, or the baker that we expect our dinner, but from their regard to their own interest” and “No society can surely be flourishing and happy, of which the far greater part of the members are poor and …show more content…
A French economists group argued that natural laws should be allowed to operate without being bothered by the government. In the the early 1800’s the middle class business leaders accepted the laissez-faire approach. Laissez-Faire means that economic policy of letting industry and business owners set working conditions without interference. Smith was a very strong supporter of laissez-faire. He believed that the market place did not need the government's interference. Adam argued that a free market would help not only the rich, but the poor also. Smith said he would produce more goods at lower prices. People that supported this pointed to the success of the industrial age where the government had no part in it (Ellis and