Friday, October 15, 2010

An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations

This is going to be the first book I will read and write about on this blog, and this will allow me to establish a format and expectations. But to start out, I should probably explain why to start with this book.

Reason for Selection
I was an economics major in college, and while this is one of the most important texts of the field, I knew a few quotes and read a few excerpts, but never the whole book. I never read Smith's Theory of Moral Sentiments, either. Of course, here I can at least claim the excuse that the books were not assigned (at least not more than a few excerpts), but that in and of itself also seems bizarre. Well, not really. They're both really long books written in the latter half of the 18th century. Professors of economics are much less interested in making their students read 18th century literature than in passing on understanding.

I fully expect to find that much of what I have learned in economics finds its basis in this book, while at the same time finding plenty of surprises in this tome. While I do have a hardback version, edited by Edwin Cannan, I will include links to the text online (and will copy/paste quotes from) the version at, of all places, Marxists.org (and it's free on Kindle, too).

Background of the Book
Adam Smith published this in 1776, some 17 years after his Theory of Moral Sentiments. Up until this period of time, mercantilism played a dominant role in the view of how nations amassed wealth. The general theory, of course, was that you gained wealth by selling goods to others, what to this day remains a popular view. Smith argued that mercantilism held back prosperity, and even went as far to say that it was not worth it to Britain to keep American colonies, but that it would be better simply to trade with them.

What this Selection Says About Me
Two years after graduating from George Mason University with a degree in Math and Economics, this is still where my intellectual curiosity lies. Even now as a law student, I still find interest in going back and reading. Even though I never really was that much of a reader. This might also merely suggest that I'm overly ambitious: the first book I write about, let's pick the thickest, hardest to understand book I can. But at the same time, this is a book that is fundamentally important to read and understand. Perhaps more to the point than any of those reasons, this is the kind of stodgy, statusy book that just looks good to have read, and it is worth constant reference. Or at least I think it is.

What to Post
My posts for each section will be a summary of key ideas from the section, favorite quotes, obscure and surprising statements, and a word about whether I learned anything new.