Adam Smith (1723-1790) was a Scottish philosopher and economist widely regarded as the founder of modern economics through his 1776 book "An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations." In it he argued that individuals pursuing their own self-interest within a competitive market, guided as if by an "invisible hand," tend to produce outcomes beneficial to society as a whole, and he set out an influential account of the division of labor, using the example of a pin factory to show how specialization dramatically increases productivity. The book also argued against mercantilist trade restrictions and in favor of free markets and limited government interference in most economic activity, positions that shaped economic policy debates for the following two and a half centuries. Smith had earlier published "The Theory of Moral Sentiments" in 1759, a work on ethics and sympathy some scholars view as inseparable from his later economic thought.
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