Adam Smith

Adam Smith was a Scottish economist and philosopher who was a pioneer in the thinking of political economy and key figure during the Scottish Enlightenment. Seen by some as "The Father of Economics" or "The Father of Capitalism", he 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 that treats economics as a comprehensive system and as an academic discipline. Smith refuses to explain the distribution of wealth and power in terms of God's will and instead appeals to natural, political, social, economic, legal, environmental and technological factors and the interactions among them. Among other economic theories, the work introduced Smith's idea of absolute advantage.

16 June 1723

Born on the same birth day (16 June): Ariano Suassuna • Bianca Andreescu • Brandon Armstrong • Charlie Dominici • Georg Wittig • Irving Penn • Joe McElderry • Keshia Chanté • Mark Ritts • Peter Stoner • Raymond Lemieux • Tom Harrell

Born in the same month (June 1723): Giovanni Antonio Scopoli • Johann Georg Palitzsch • Old Style and New Style dates