Adam Smith clearly put forward the research goal of political economy in The Wealth of Nations, that is, what does political economy do? Smith believes that the basic research goal of political economy is to "enrich the country" and "enrich the people".

Among them, "enriching the people" is the first. Without the wealth of the people, "national wealth" will become passive water. Both rich countries and rich people depend on the increase of national wealth, that is, we must first make the cake bigger.

In order to increase national wealth, we must solve the following two interrelated problems, that is, what is national wealth and how to increase it. The former deals with the nature of national wealth, while the latter deals with the reasons for the increase of national wealth.

2. Division of labor and exchange: the essential attribute of market economy

The research goal of political economy is to enrich the country and how to improve a country's national wealth. Smith believes that there are two main ways to increase national wealth and one guarantee: one way is to improve labor productivity, which mainly depends on the deepening of division of labor and the smooth process of market exchange; The second is to increase the number of workers, which in turn depends on capital accumulation and proper capital use.

In this process, adhering to economic freedom, giving full play to the role of the "invisible hand" of the market, canceling inappropriate government intervention and letting economic activities run in its natural order are the most fundamental institutional guarantees.

Smith believes that division of labor can improve labor productivity by improving workers' skills and promoting technological progress, and realize rapid economic growth and people's general prosperity, which is an important feature of market economy different from self-sufficient traditional natural economy.

With the division of labor, it will involve exchange. Under the condition of market economy, people can get all kinds of necessities only through equal, voluntary and reciprocal market transactions. In Smith's view, only market exchange based on self-interest and equal exchange behavior can maintain a lasting normality.

3. "Invisible hand": the password of market economy

The idea of government intervention and regulation reached its peak in the mercantilist period. In seven chapters, Smith lashed out at the mercantilist theory and various intervention measures.

In the process of attacking mercantilism, Smith put forward the view of "invisible hand". Smith believes that mercantilism is a theory of restriction and management in terms of its nature and essence, and it is the biggest obstacle to improving national wealth. The way to correct and overcome this drawback lies in realizing real laissez-faire and establishing "the clearest and simplest natural freedom system".

Smith was very optimistic about the consequences of natural freedom system. In Smith's view, under the system of natural freedom, everyone engages in production and business activities from his own interests. In this process, being guided by the invisible hand to pursue his own interests can often make him promote the interests of society more effectively than in the case of real intentions.

The system of natural freedom and economic liberalism are important guarantees for the "invisible hand" to give full play to its effectiveness.

4. Moderate wage growth: the proper meaning of market economy.

The development of market economy has greatly promoted productivity, but at the same time, it has also created new problems, especially the relationship between wages and profits. Smith believes that the advantages of providing moderate wages outweigh the disadvantages.

The provision of labor wages is due to the increase of labor demand, and the increase of labor demand comes from the improvement of national wealth and capital of a country. Therefore, the wage level and the development level of national wealth have internal consistency. In other words, raising wages is not only intrinsically consistent with rich countries, but also the proper intention of the rich.

Extended data:

Creation background

Britain is the first country in the world to establish a capitalist system. By the first half of18th century, Britain was far ahead in the capitalist world. The Wealth of Nations was written on the eve of the industrial revolution. At that time, workshop handicraft was still the main form of British capitalist production, but the trend of machine production replacing manual technology became more and more obvious.

Although the primitive accumulation of capitalism has been completed, feudal forces occupy a dominant position in politics and a large number of feudal economies exist, which seriously hinders the further development of capitalism. The times urgently require the birth of a new economic theoretical system.

While teaching at Glasgow University, Smith not only paid attention to moral issues, but also often inspected the economic life of Glasgow Industrial Zone, and gradually shifted his academic focus to economic aspects. At the same time, he also joined the Political Economy Club in Glasgow. In this series of activities, Smith gradually formed his own economic thought.

1764, Smith resigned as a professor at Douglas University and became the personal teacher of the young Duke Becquerel, accompanying him to travel around the European continent. In Paris, he met Voltaire, the representative of the French Enlightenment School, and Queiroz Durge, the main representative of the physiocratic school, who benefited a lot from their contacts.

1767 After returning to his hometown, Smith wrote a book behind closed doors. 1773, he took his book to London for publication. However, when he arrived in London, Smith found that many new materials had been published during his years of seclusion. It took him another three years to supplement and revise this book, and finally published The Wealth of Nations in 1776.

Baidu Encyclopedia-The Wealth of Nations