Inquiry into the nature and causes of the wealth of nations
by Adam Smith, Andrew Skinner · first published 1788
26% recommend74% neutral
Why HN recommends it
Foundational work of economics that lays out how markets, labor, specialization and trade create national prosperity. It is the classic starting point for understanding economic thinking.
Summarised by Claude from recommending comments
Presents a statement and defense of capitalist economics, first published in the late eighteenth century by Scottish scholar Adam Smith.
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…such as good roads, bridges, navigable canals, harbours, etc., must require very different degrees of expense in the different periods of society is evident without any proof. </quote> Adam Smith, An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations, Book V, Of the Revenue of the Sovereign or Commonwealth. Chapter 1: Of the Expences of the Sovereign or Commonwealth https://en.m.wikisource.org/wiki/The_Wealth_of_Nations/Book_... I'm kind of a big…
on “A Basic Income Is Smarter Than a Minimum Wage” ↗Great summary. Probably good follow on reads would be the classical "An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations" by Adam Smith and "The Competitive Advantage of Nations" by Michael Porter. Just subscribed!
on “Book Summary: Why Nations Fail – Understanding why countries are rich or poor” ↗An Inquiry Into The Nature And Causes of The Wealth of Nations. Adam Smith 1776
on “Books on Entrepreneurship” ↗…one yet, funny huh) An empire of wealth : the epic history of American economic power (haven't started) Good to great : why some companies make the leap--and others don't (some weren't so great) An inquiry into the nature and causes of the wealth of nations, by Smith, Adam, 1723-1790. (goodness, this is 300 years old and still dead on and an easy read) Microtrends : the small forces behind tomorrow's big changes (haven't started reading yet) Negotiate…
on “Ask HN: How do you learn about the business aspects of running a startup?” ↗…Analysis - Benjamin Graham 3) Common Stocks and Uncommon Profits - Philip Fisher 4) The Little Book of Common Sense Investing - John Bogle 5) The Most Important Thing - Howard Marks Economics: 1) An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations - Adam Smith 2) Where Are the Customers' Yachts: or A Good Hard Look at Wall Street - Fred Schwed 3) stuff by John Maynard Keynes (never heard him mention exact title) Others: 1) Poor Charlie's Almanac…
on “Buffett FAQ” ↗…empirically, to avoid winding up in a highly non-optimal equilibrium point. If you're interested in ethical ramifications, I recommend two excellent works on the topic: A Theory of Moral Sentiments and An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations. Even that treatment is unsatisfactory as it neglects considerations of short-term vs. long-term trade-offs. Your example is contrived in that it essentially poses a Sophie's Choice: give up condition…
on “White House urges ban on non-compete agreements for many workers” ↗"An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations" by Adam Smith. Before that I never really thought deeply about economics, but afterwards, it's almost like you have a deeper sense of predictions on cause-and-effect... there will always be second and…
on “Ask HN: Which books you have read till now that were worth investing time in?” ↗The Bible (Old and New Testaments), An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations, The Constitution of the United States of America and Jonathan Livingstone Seagull.
on “Ask HN: Great fiction books that have had a positive impact on your life?” ↗…monetary policy did not exist at the time, and/or were dismissed.[1][2][there are many more possible citations] If you want to understand Smith and Ricardo's views in full, I suggest that you read "An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations" and "On the Principles of Political Economy and Taxation". There is simply no evidence in either of those books that the classical economists would support many policies outlined in "The Economist",…
on “Is The Economist left- or right-wing?” ↗…problems and make them go away. A guy wrote a long book about this once, and how unregulated laissez-faire markets tended strongly to special interests and plutonomy. He was named Smith, title is An Inquiry Into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations*. Recommended reading.
on “Prison phones are a predatory monopoly – One family fought back and won” ↗I don't know why you're getting downvoted. You clearly read Smith and the downvoters clearly didn't. An Inquiry Into the Nature and Causes of The Wealth of Nations is like an anti-rentier pamphlet in most places. Ignore the haters, keep being right about books.
on “Lina Khan points to Figma IPO as vindication of M&A scrutiny” ↗…hand of Providence" (or God). Though Smith, as Hume, was almost certainly what we'd now call an athiest. He used the term three times, in three different books: The Theory of Moral Sentiments, then An Inquiry Into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations, and finally in a book on the history of astronomy. It's clear from context that Smith wasn't embuing markets especially with invisible handedness, but using a common phrase of the age. The modern invention…
on “Brian Eno: We've been living happily with AI for thousands of years” ↗This article is badly informed and badly reasoned. Adam Smith - An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations ” It is not, accordingly, in the richest countries, but in the most thriving, or in those which are growing rich the fastest, that the wages of labour are highest.” In those places, you are willing…
on “Is a trillion dollars’ worth of programming lying on the ground?” ↗…"productivity", and it doesn't include zero-sum wealth capture. The idea that productivity is ultimately what makes a country prosperous and not money or gold I believe dates back to Adam Smith's "An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations". If you look at the shortest intro to modern macroeconomics that I know of [1], productivity is still basically the first thing mentioned. The opposite of growing the pie is rent-seeking [2] - trying…
on “How to get rich without being lucky (2019)” ↗…the man who works so moderately, as to be able to work constantly, not only preserves his health the longest, but, in the course of the year, executes the greatest quantity of work." -- Adam Smith, An Inquiry Into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations, 1776. Book 1, Chapter 8 https://en.m.wikisource.org/wiki/The_Wealth_of_Nations/Book_... Emphasis added.
on “Is it unethical for me to not tell my employer I've automated my job?” ↗