Adam Smith- Scottish political economist, economist, philosopher and one of the founders of modern economic theory. His achievements in the field of economics as a science are compared with Newton's achievements in physics in terms of significance.

short biography

A small number of facts from the biography of Adam Smith have been preserved. It is known that he born June 1723(the exact date of his birth is unknown) and was baptized on June 5 in the town Kirkcaldy in the Scottish county of Fife.

His father is a customs official, also named Adam Smith, died 2 months before the birth of his son. It is assumed that Adam was the only child in the family. At the age of 4, he was kidnapped by gypsies, but was quickly rescued by his uncle and returned to his mother. There was a good school in Kirkcaldy, and from childhood Adam was surrounded by books.

Study period

Aged 14 years Adam Smith entered the University of Glasgow, where he studied the ethical foundations of philosophy for two years under the guidance of Francis Hutcheson. In his first year, he studied logic (this was a mandatory requirement), then moved to the class of moral philosophy. He studied ancient languages ​​(especially ancient Greek), mathematics and astronomy.

Adam had a reputation as a strange but intelligent man. In 1740 He entered Oxford, receiving a scholarship to continue his education, and completed his studies there in 1746.

Smith was critical of the quality of teaching at Oxford, writing in "The Wealth of Nations", What “at Oxford University, most of the professors, for many years now, have completely abandoned even the appearance of teaching”. At the university, he was often sick, read a lot, but did not yet show interest in economics.

Homecoming

In summer 1746 he returned to Kirkcaldy, where he educated himself for two years. In 1748, Smith began lecturing at Edinburgh University. Initially these were lectures on English literature, later on natural law (including jurisprudence, political doctrines, sociology and economics).

It was the preparation of lectures for students at this university that became the impetus for Adam Smith to formulate his ideas about the problems of economics. He began to express the ideas of economic liberalism, presumably in 1750-1751.

The basis of Adam Smith's scientific theory was the desire to look at man from three sides: from the standpoint of morality and morality, from civil and state positions, from economic positions.

Adam Smith's ideas

Adam lectured on rhetoric, the art of letter writing and later on the subject of "attaining wealth", where he first expounded on economic philosophy in detail "an obvious and simple system of natural freedom", which is reflected in his most famous work .

Around 1750, Adam Smith met David Hume, who was almost a decade older than him. The similarity of their views, reflected in their works on history, politics, philosophy, economics and religion, shows that together they formed an intellectual alliance that played important role during the period of emergence of the so-called "Scottish Enlightenment".

"Theory of Moral Sentiments"

In 1751 Smith was appointed professor of logic at the University of Glasgow. Smith lectured on ethics, rhetoric, jurisprudence, and political economy. In 1759 Smith published a book "Theory of Moral Sentiments" based on materials from his lectures.

In this work, Smith analyzed ethical standards of behavior, ensuring social stability. At the same time, he actually opposed church morality, based on fear of punishment after death and promises of paradise.

He proposed as a basis for moral assessments "principle of sympathy", according to which what is moral is what arouses the approval of impartial and discerning observers, and also spoke out in favor of the ethical equality of people - the equal applicability of moral standards to all people.

Smith lived in Glasgow for 12 years, regularly leaving for 2-3 months in Edinburgh. He was respected, made a circle of friends, and led the lifestyle of a club-going bachelor.

Personal life

There is information that Adam Smith almost got married twice, in Edinburgh and in Glasgow, but for some reason this did not happen. Neither in the memoirs of contemporaries, nor in his correspondence no evidence survives that it would seriously affect him.

Smith lived with his mother ( which he outlived by 6 years) and unmarried cousin ( who died two years before him). One of the contemporaries who visited Smith's house recorded that national Scottish food was served in the house and Scottish customs were observed.

Smith appreciated folk songs, dances and poetry, one of his last book orders was several copies of the first published volume of poetry Robert Burns. Despite the fact that Scottish morality did not encourage the theater, Smith himself loved it, especially the French theater.

Book "The Wealth of Nations"

Smith became famous worldwide after the book was published. "An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations" in 1776. This book analyzes in detail how an economy could operate in conditions of complete economic freedom and exposes everything that prevents this.

The Wealth of Nations discovered economics as a science
based on the free enterprise doctrine

The book substantiates the concept freedom economic development , shown socially useful role individual egoism, the special importance of the division of labor and the vastness of the market for the growth of labor productivity and national well-being is emphasized.

Last years

In 1778 Smith was appointed one of the five Commissioners of Customs for Scotland in Edinburgh. Having a very high salary for those times of 600 pounds sterling, he continued to lead a modest lifestyle and spent money on charity. The only valuable thing left after him was the library collected during his life.

During Smith's lifetime, The Theory of Moral Sentiments was published 6 times, and The Wealth of Nations - 5 times; the third edition of “Wealth” was significantly expanded, including a chapter "Conclusion on the Mercantilist System".

In Edinburgh, Smith had his own club, on Sundays he hosted dinners for friends, and visited, among others, Princess Vorontsova-Dashkova.

Adam Smith passed away July 17, 1790 aged 67 in Edinburgh after a long bowel disease.

Today invisible hand concept, used by Adam Smith, in (micro-macro) is represented as a whole theory of the invisible hand of the market regulating, without any intervention, all imbalances in the economy. However Adam Smith the principle of the invisible hand of the market formulated only to substantiate his assumption that in economics there are objective laws that can be studied with the help of abstraction, as in other sciences. Another point about the beneficial consequences for the economy from reducing the role of the state, which was expressed by Adam Smith liberalism today I took it as my main postulate.

Classical political economy of Adam Smith also considers him his founder due to the fact that economic theory of Adam Smith made it possible to substantiate the concepts of capital and surplus value. Economic views of Adam Smith so ahead of his time that even today some concepts in economics are associated with his name, for example, Adam Smith's labor theory of value.

Biography of Adam Smith, of course, must be in everyone, but for me what is more important is that Adam Smith division of labor considered the main reason for economic relations. The entire development of human society, changes in the forms of states and economies is consequences of division of labor among people on planet Earth. The social division of labor is the reason not only for the level of production achieved by humanity as a result of scientific and technological progress, but also in general - the possibility of population growth to the current level.

The article was reprinted from a site whose access is currently limited, so there is no point in providing a link. The author has liberal views, which in the Russian version turn out to be no less ideological than Marxist. It must be said that Karl Marx himself did not like Adam Smith, considering Adam Smith’s position, like the author of the article, to be not on his side. Apparently, Adam Smith is guilty of ignorance of the postulates of future economic doctrines.

Biography of Adam Smith

Today, few details of Adam Smith's personal life are known, rather the works of Adam Smith are a detailed description of his contemporary life. Adam Smith works he filled his own with life examples, which are his impressions of his travels to France, and other comparisons of the English economy with the situation in other countries. Of course, for such an outstanding economist as Adam Smith Wikipedia contains an Adam Smith biography page. In the USSR, a book was published in the series “The Life of Remarkable People” Adam Smith.

Adam Smith short biography

Full title Adam Smith books – « An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations” – leaves no doubt that its main subject is economic development. This is clear from the way he distinguishes between productive and unproductive labor, how he builds a hierarchy of industrial productivity - and most of all from the way he talks about the directions of economic policy, its impact on economic growth in the past, as well as on economic development various countries during his lifetime.

But what distinguishes Smith's theory of economic development is the way he often refers to the particular social conditions that determine material interests. Adam Smith, so often accused of adhering to the vulgar doctrine of spontaneous coordination of interests, emphasizes that the powerful driving force of self-interest acts in harmony with the interests of society only under very specific institutional conditions.

To show this, it will be enough to consider one of his discussions about state services and (or) educational institutions. Notable is his disparaging criticism of English university education, which focuses on the fact that the universities of Oxford and Cambridge lack any kind of “payment by results”: the colleges receive huge donations, are run by the teachers themselves, the profits of most teachers are paid from endowment funds, the presence of students on classes for the most part forced, and as a result, the profit of teachers is in no way connected with their professional qualities as teachers or scientists. In public schools the situation is much better, mainly because “the remuneration of a school teacher depends mainly, and in some cases entirely, on the fees paid by his students.” He welcomed government assistance in providing school buildings, but preferred that teachers be paid through private fees plus, in addition, a small fixed sum in the form of a stipend. His idea was that, receiving a fixed salary, a teacher would never work at full strength.

Economic theory of Adam Smith

Adam Smith made a significant contribution to the analysis of the economic laws of capitalism. Adam Smith's contribution The development of economic laws consists, first of all, in substantiating and actively pursuing the idea of ​​“natural order” in the development of social production, the idea of ​​conditioning social production by material factors. It is no exaggeration to say that for Smith all economic processes and categories were manifestations of the “natural order.” Already in the introduction to “The Wealth of Nations” he wrote: “The annual labor of each people represents the initial fund, which provides it with all the products necessary for existence and the convenience of life...”. From this it is clear that the author generally has a materialistic understanding of the wealth of nations - the most important category of his system. Its emergence and growth are derived not from anything ideal, but from a material factor - social labor.

The scientist characterized nature in a similar way. He emphasized: “leading to such income is by no means the result of someone’s wisdom, which foresaw and realized the general welfare that would be generated by it...”. The origin and essence of money and many other economic categories were mainly explained materialistically. Moreover, Adam Smith's generally materialistic view of the development of social production was reinforced by his sharply negative attitude towards religion. He not only classified priests as an unproductive segment of the population, but also disparaged them as one of the most frivolous professions.

Smith introduced into the development of economic laws a “deepening of scientific abstractions” in the analysis of social production. The deepening and expansion of the method of scientific abstraction allowed Adam Smith to see and explore a number of significant connections of social production. This is a significant contribution of the great scientist to the development of economic laws. Developing the labor theory of value, A. Smith actually substantiated the law of value. He, for example, argued: “Thus, labor alone... is the only valid standard by which the value of all commodities can be assessed and compared at all times and in all places.”

The great merit of the author of The Wealth of Nations lies not only in the fact that he recognized the inevitability of the exchange of goods in accordance with their value. He also tried to reveal the mechanism of action of the law of value through fluctuations in market prices around value (around the “natural price”). “The actual price at which a product is generally sold,” he wrote, “is called its market price. It can either exceed its natural price, or be lower than it, or coincide exactly with it.” Moreover, the main reason for such fluctuations is also becoming clear - the relationship between the demand for goods and their supply.

It is noteworthy that Adam Smith tries to show the fundamental margin between profit and wages. He certainly does not agree to consider the return on capital as payment for the businessman's labor of supervision and management. He is quite sure that "this profit ... is established on completely different principles and does not stand in any proportion to the quantity, severity or complexity of this supposed labor of supervision and management." Profit in its dynamics also comes into conflict with wages: “An increase in capital, which increases wages, leads to a decrease in profits.” According to K. Marx, “Smith grasped the true origin of surplus value” and established the law of its origin.

While exploring market competition, the Scottish economist also insightfully saw the steady dependence of market prices on the interaction between the demand for goods and their supply. “The market price of each individual product,” we read, “is determined by the relation between the quantity actually delivered to the market and the demand for it...” Next, absolute demand and actual demand are specifically examined, with examples showing the significant margin between them. All this means is that A. Smith definitely felt the action of the law of supply and demand.

Adam Smith made some contributions to the development of many other economic laws. And this contribution is undoubtedly enormous. But it is worth, in my opinion, a general note: Smith’s unique interpretation and consideration of various economic laws to a certain extent contributed to their further development in economic science.

Sources:

• taina.aib.ru The mystery of the name
• ru.wikipedia.org Wikipedia – the free encyclopedia Economics is based on the postulate of the eternity of capitalism.

Therefore, economics cannot be considered a continuation of the ideas of Adam Smith, since author of The Wealth of Nations predicted the end of capitalism when such a closed system as the entire population of the Earth reaches its limit. If the entire population of the world were involved in unified system division of labor (as this is not yet the case today, but we can say that the American one has become a global system of division of labor), then the development of the economy according to the principles of capitalism will stop (which is happening before our eyes).

To continue its development, Humanity will have to look for new ways to create demand in the economy, which means the inevitable abandonment of capitalism. However, there is little left of capitalism.

However, not only in Russia do people feel incompetent Economics as the main economic doctrine of capitalism and therefore turn to Marxism. It’s just that people don’t know about Marxism. That is why Marxism has strongly fermented in the minds of Russians, who were taught Marxism in schools. However, Marxism itself, at the beginning of the 20th century, was emasculated into the theory of class struggle, which is quite strange given the absence of obvious signs of the classes themselves today. To the question - where has the proletariat gone? - not a single communist party in the world will answer.

Websites on NEOCONOMICS

• website World crisis worldcrisis.ru

The relevance of the research topic is determined by the fact that Adam Smith is not only one of largest representatives English classical political economy, but to a large extent was its founder. The basis of Smith's scientific theory was the desire to look at a person from three points of view: from the standpoint of morality and ethics, from the positions of civil and state and from the positions of economic. He tried to explain economic relations people precisely taking into account the characteristics of their nature, considering , that man is a creature, selfish by nature, and his goals may well contradict the interests of others. But people still manage to cooperate with each other for the common good and personal benefit of each. Means , there are some mechanisms, who provide such cooperation. And if you identify them, then we can understand how to arrange economic relations even more rationally. Adam Smith did not idealize man, seeing all his shortcomings and weaknesses, but at the same time he wrote: “All people have the same, a constant and never-ending desire to improve one's situation is the beginning, from which it follows both public and national, so is private wealth" 1.

The purpose of the work is to analyze the theoretical concepts of Adam Smith taking into account modern economic approaches.

The object of the study is the theoretical teaching of the English classic political economist Adam Smith

Research objectives:

characterize the biographical path of Adam Smith as the founder of the English classical school.


analysis of theoretical concepts of views and identify the essence of the “invisible hand” principle he introduced.


The research methods used in this course work are the theoretical method of literature analysis and the method of empirical analysis.


When writing the work, the works of such authors as Agapova I.I., Anikin A.V., Bartenev S.A., Blaug M., Zhid were used. Sh., Kondratyev N. ., Kucherenko V., Reuel A.L., Smith A., Schumpeter J., Yadgarov Ya.S. and others. As N. Kondratiev believes, “Smith’s entire classic work on the wealth of nations was written from the point of view of what conditions and how lead people to the greatest well-being, as he understood it” 1 .


1.1. A. Smith - the founder of the English classical school


As the English historian of economic thought Alexander Gray noted: “Adam Smith was so clearly one of the outstanding minds of the 18th century. and had such a huge influence in the 19th century. in his own country and throughout the world, which seems somewhat strange is our poor knowledge of the details of his life... His biographer is almost inevitably forced to make up for the lack of material by writing not so much a biography of Adam Smith as a history of his time” 1 .


The birthplace of the great economist was Scotland. For several centuries the Scots waged stubborn wars with England, but under Queen Anne in 1707, a state union was finally concluded. This was in the interests of English and Scottish industrialists, merchants and wealthy farmers, whose influence by this time had noticeably increased. Following this, significant economic development began in Scotland. The city and port of Glasgow grew especially quickly, around which an entire industrial area arose. It was here, in the triangle between the cities of Glasgow, Edinburgh (the capital of Scotland) and Kirkcaldy (Smith's hometown) that almost the entire life of the great economist passed. The influence of church and religion on social life and science gradually decreased. The Church lost control of the universities. Scottish universities differed from Oxford and Cambridge in their spirit of free thought, the large role of secular sciences and a practical bias. In this regard, the University of Glasgow, where Smith studied and taught, especially stood out. The inventor of the steam engine, James Watt, and one of the founders of modern chemistry, Joseph Black, worked next to him and were his friends.


Around the 50s, Scotland entered a period of great cultural upsurge, which was found in various fields of science and art. The brilliant cohort of talent that little Scotland has produced over half a century looks very impressive. In addition to those named, it includes economist James Stewart and philosopher David Hume (the latter was Smith's closest friend), historian William Robertson, sociologist and economist Adam Ferguson. This was the environment, the atmosphere in which Smith's talent grew.


Adam Smith was born in 1723 in the small town of Kirkcaldy, near Edinburgh. His father, a customs official, died a few months before his son was born. Adam was the only child of a young widow, and she devoted her whole life to him. The boy grew up fragile and sickly, avoiding the noisy games of his peers. Fortunately, Kirkcaldy had a good school, and Adam always had a lot of books around - this helped him get a good education. Very early, at the age of 14 (this was the custom of the time), Smith entered the University of Glasgow. After the obligatory logic class for all students (first year), he moved to the moral philosophy class, thereby choosing the humanitarian direction. However, he also studied mathematics and astronomy and always had considerable knowledge in these areas. By the age of 17, Smith had a reputation among students as a scientist and somewhat strange fellow. He could suddenly think deeply among a noisy company or start talking to himself, forgetting about those around him.


Having successfully graduated from the university in 1740, Smith received a scholarship to further training at Oxford University. He spent six years almost continuously at Oxford, noting with surprise that at the illustrious university they teach and cannot teach almost anything. Ignorant professors were only engaged in intrigue, politicking and spying on students. More than 30 years later, in The Wealth of Nations, Smith settled the score with them, causing their fury to explode. He wrote, in particular: “At Oxford University, the majority of professors for many years have completely abandoned even the appearance of teaching” 1 .


The futility of further stay in England and political events (the uprising of Stuart supporters in 1745 - 1746) forced Smith to leave for Kirkcaldy in the summer of 1746, where he lived for two years, continuing to educate himself. At the age of 25, Adam Smith amazed with his erudition and depth of knowledge in a wide variety of fields. The first manifestations of Smith's special interest in political economy also date back to this time.


In 1751, Smith moved to Glasgow to take up a professorship at the university there. First he received the department of logic, and then - moral philosophy. Smith lived in Glasgow for 13 years, regularly spending 2–3 months a year in Edinburgh. In his old age he wrote that this was the happiest period of his life. He lived in an environment that was familiar to him and close to him, enjoying the respect of professors, students and prominent citizens. He could work unhindered, and much was expected of him in science.


As in the lives of Newton and Leibniz, women did not play any significant role in Smith's life. However, vague and unreliable information has been preserved that he was close to getting married twice—during his years in Edinburgh and Glasgow—but both times, for some reason, things went wrong. His mother and cousin ran his home all his life. Smith outlived his mother by only six years, and his cousin by two years. As one visitor who visited Smith wrote, the house was “absolutely Scottish.” National food was served and Scottish traditions and customs were observed.


In 1759, Smith published his first major scientific work, The Theory of Moral Sentiments. Meanwhile, already in the course of work on “Theory,” the direction of Smith’s scientific interests changed noticeably. He studied political economy more and more deeply. In commercial and industrial Glasgow, economic problems intruded especially powerfully into life. There was a kind of political economy club in Glasgow, organized by the rich and enlightened mayor of the city. Smith soon became one of the most prominent members of this club. Acquaintance and friendship with Hume also strengthened Smith's interest in political economy.


At the end of the last century, the English economist Edwin Cannan discovered and published important materials that shed light on the development of Smith's ideas. These were some slightly edited and rewritten notes of Smith's lectures taken by a student at Glasgow University. Judging by the content, these lectures were given in 1762 - 1763. From these lectures, it is first of all clear that the course of moral philosophy that Smith taught to students had by this time turned, in essence, into a course of sociology and political economy. In the purely economic sections of the lectures one can easily discern the beginnings of ideas that were further developed in The Wealth of Nations. In the 1930s, another interesting discovery was made: a sketch of the first chapters of The Wealth of Nations.


Thus, by the end of his time in Glasgow, Smith was already a profound and original economic thinker. But he was not yet ready to create his main work. A three-year trip to France (as tutor to the young Duke of Buccleuch) and personal acquaintance with the physiocrats completed his preparation. It can be said that Smith arrived in France just in time. On the one hand, he was already a sufficiently established and mature scientist and person not to fall under the influence of the physiocrats (this happened to many smart foreigners, not excluding Franklin). On the other hand, his system had not yet fully formed in his head: therefore, he was able to perceive the beneficial influence of F. Quesnay and A. R. J. Turgot.


France is present in Smith's book not only in ideas directly or indirectly related to physiocracy, but also in a great variety of different observations (including personal ones), examples and illustrations. The overall tone of all this material is critical. For Smith, France, with its feudal-absolutist system and fetters for bourgeois development, is the most striking example of the contradiction of actual orders with the ideal “natural order.” It cannot be said that everything is good in England, but in general its system is much closer to the “natural order” with its freedom of personality, conscience and - most importantly - entrepreneurship.


What did three years in France mean for Smith personally, in a human sense? Firstly, a sharp improvement in his financial situation. By agreement with the Duke of Buccleuch's parents, he was to receive 300 pounds a year, not only during the voyage, but as a pension until his death. This allowed Smith to spend the next 10 years working solely on his book; he never returned to the University of Glasgow. Secondly, all contemporaries noted a change in Smith’s character: he became more collected, businesslike, energetic and acquired a certain skill in dealing with various people, including the powerful. However, he did not acquire any secular luster and remained in the eyes of most of his acquaintances as an eccentric and absent-minded professor.


Smith spent about a year in Paris - from December 1765 to October 1766. Since literary salons were the centers of intellectual life in Paris, he mainly communicated with philosophers there. One might think that acquaintance with C. A. Helvetius, a man of great personal charm and remarkable intelligence, was of particular importance for Smith. In his philosophy, Helvetius declared egoism to be a natural property of man and a factor in the progress of society. Related to this is the idea of ​​the natural equality of people: every person, regardless of birth and position, should be given equal right pursue their own benefit, and the whole society will benefit from this. Such ideas were close to Smith. They were not new to him: he took something similar from the philosophers J. Locke and D. Hume and from Mandeville’s paradoxes. But of course, the brilliance of Helvetia's argument had a special influence on him. Smith developed these ideas and applied them to political economy.


1.2. Theoretical views of A. Smith


Smith's idea of ​​human nature and the relationship between man and society formed the basis of the views of the classical school. The concept of homo oeconomicus ( economic man) arose somewhat later, but its inventors relied on Smith. The famous phrase about the “invisible hand” is one of the most quoted passages in The Wealth of Nations.


What is "economic man" and the "invisible hand"? Smith's train of thought can be imagined something like this. The main motive economic activity a person is selfish interest. But a person can pursue his interest only by providing services to other people, offering his labor and products of labor in exchange. This is how the division of labor develops. Each individual person strives to use his labor and his capital (as we see, both workers and capitalists can be meant here) in such a way that his product has the greatest value. At the same time, he does not think about the public benefit and does not realize how much he contributes to it, but the market leads him precisely to where the result of investing his resources will be valued by society the most. The “invisible hand” is a beautiful metaphor for the spontaneous action of objective economic laws. Smith called the conditions under which the beneficial effects of selfish interest and spontaneous laws of economic development are most effectively realized the natural order. For Smith, this concept has a double meaning. On the one hand, this is the principle and goal of economic policy, i.e., laissez faire policy, on the other hand, it is a theoretical construct, a “model” for the study of economic reality 1 .


In physics, useful tools for understanding nature are the abstractions of an ideal gas and an ideal liquid. Real gases and liquids do not behave “ideally” or behave this way only under certain specific conditions. However, it makes a lot of sense to abstract from these disturbances in order to study the phenomena “in their pure form.” Something similar is represented in political economy by the abstraction of “economic man” and free (perfect) competition. Science would not be able to study mass economic phenomena and processes if it did not make certain assumptions that simplify, model an infinitely complex and diverse reality, and highlight the most important features in it. From this point of view, the abstraction of “economic man” and free competition has played a crucial role in economics.


For Smith, homo oeconomicus is an expression of eternal and natural human nature, and the policy of laissez faire follows directly from his views on man and society. If the economic activity of each person ultimately leads to the good of society, then it is clear that this activity should not be constrained by anything. Smith believed that with freedom of movement of goods and money, capital and labor, the resources of society would be used in the most efficient way.


The economic policy of the English government over the next century was, in a sense, the implementation of Smith's program.


W. Pitt's economic policy was largely based on the ideas of free trade and non-interference in the economic life of society, which were preached by Adam Smith.


The basis of productive activity is the interest in increasing wealth. This is the main motive that determines interest. It moves people, forces them to enter into relationships with each other.


In a market economy, the “economic man” acts. For example, a merchant wants to raise prices. There is only one thing that can counteract this – competition. If prices rise too high, it opens the door for others (one or many) to charge a lower price and, by selling more, make an additional profit.


Thus, competition curbs egoism and influences prices. It regulates the quantity of goods and requires quality to be ensured.


The division of labor, as one of the authors notes, was a kind of historical prism through which Smith analyzes economic processes. The concept of “economic man” is associated with the division of labor. This category underlies the analysis of value, exchange, money, production.


Without completely rejecting participation in economic life and control by the state, Smith assigns it the role of a “night watchman,” and not a regulator and regulator of economic processes (now this role is interpreted somewhat differently and the expediency of state regulation is recognized almost everywhere).


The “Scottish sage,” as some biographers call Smith, identifies three functions that the state is called upon to perform: the administration of justice, the defense of the country, the organization and maintenance of public institutions.


Some practical conclusions also follow from Smith's theoretical arguments. The fifth book has a special chapter “The Four Basic Rules of Taxes.” It argues that the payment of taxes should not be assigned to one class, as the physiocrats proposed, but to everyone equally - labor, capital and land.


Smith justifies the principle of proportional division of the tax burden - according to the level of property wealth of taxpayers. As for the basic rules that must be observed when collecting taxes, they, according to Smith, should concern the timing, methods, amount of payment, sanctions for non-payment, equality in the distribution of tax levels.


“A tax imposed thoughtlessly creates strong temptations to deceive; but as these temptations increase, the penalties for deception usually increase. Thus, the law, violating the first principles of justice, itself creates temptations, and then punishes those who did not resist them ... "
1


Such a conclusion, made more than two hundred years ago, like many other comments and proposals of the creator of the Wealth of Nations, sometimes sound as if they were written recently.


According to the fair remark of his friend, the English philosopher David Hume, Smith general principles are constantly illustrated interesting facts. Smith was not just a theorist, but an attentive observer, a man who knew very well the world in which he lived. He knew how to listen and loved to talk with people.


As a lecturer, Smith engaged his audience with compelling arguments. Among his students at one time there were also Russians - Semyon Desnitsky, Ivan Tretyakov, who later wrote original works in economics and law.


2. The main content of Adam Smith's political economy


2.1. The main work of A. Smith and his contribution to economic theory


Adam Smith's main work on political economy is An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations (1777). Smith's book is divided into five parts. In the first he analyzes questions of value and income, in the second the nature of capital and its accumulation. In them he outlined the foundations of his teaching. In other parts, he examines the development of the European economy during the era of feudalism and the emergence of capitalism, the history of economic thought and public finance.


Adam Smith explains that main topic his work is economic development: the forces that act temporarily and control the wealth of nations.


“An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of Wealth” is the first full-fledged work in economic science, setting out the general basis of the science - the theory of production and distribution. Then an analysis of the effect of these abstract principles on historical material and, finally, a number of examples of their application in economic policy. Moreover, this entire work is imbued with the lofty idea of ​​an “obvious and simple system of natural freedom,” to which, as it seemed to Adam Smith, goes all world.


What Petty expressed in the form of conjectures, Smith substantiated as a system, an expanded concept. “The wealth of a people consists not in land alone, not in money alone, but in all things that are suitable for satisfying our needs and increasing our pleasures in life” 1.


Unlike the mercantilists and physiocrats, Smith argued that the source of wealth should not be sought in any specific occupation. The true creator of wealth is not the labor of the farmer or foreign trade. Wealth is the product of the total labor of everyone - farmers, artisans, sailors, merchants, i.e. representatives of various types of work and professions. The source of wealth, the creator of all values, is labor.


Through labor, initially various goods (food, clothing, material for housing) were conquered from nature and transformed for human needs. “Labor was the first price, the original means of payment, which was paid for all things. It was not with gold and silver, but with labor that all the wealth in the world was initially purchased.” 1


According to Smith, the true creator of wealth is "the annual labor of every nation" directed to its annual consumption. In modern terminology, this is the gross national product (GNP). The terminology has changed somewhat, and now national wealth is no longer understood as the annual product of the nation, as in the time of Smith, but the accumulated and synthesized labor over many years, the wealth of the nation as the result of the materialized labor of several generations.


Let us note one more point. Smith distinguishes between those types of labor that are embodied in material things and those that, like the labor of a domestic servant, are a service, and services “disappear the very moment they are rendered.” If work is useful, this does not mean that it is productive.


According to Smith, labor in material production is productive, that is. the labor of workers and farmers, builders and masons. Their labor creates value and increases wealth. But the labor of officials and officers, administrators and scientists, writers and musicians, lawyers and priests does not create value. Their work is useful, needed by society, but not productive.


“The labor of some of the most respected classes of society, like the labor of domestic servants, does not produce any value and is not fixed or realized in any durable existing object or commodity ... which would continue to exist even after the cessation of labor ...” 1.



So, all wealth is created by labor, but the products of labor are created not for oneself, but for exchange (“every person lives by exchange or becomes, to a certain extent, a merchant”). The meaning of a commodity society is that products are produced as goods for exchange.


And it should be noted that the point here is not simply that the exchange of goods for goods is equivalent to the labor expended. The result of the exchange is mutually beneficial. This simple idea has deep meaning. One produces bread, the other grows meat, and they exchange one for the other.


People are bound by the division of labor. It makes the exchange profitable for its participants, and the market, commodity society - effective. By buying someone else's labor, his buyer saves his own labor.


According to Smith, the division of labor plays the most important role in increasing the productive power of labor and growth national wealth. He begins his research with an analysis of this phenomenon.


Division of labor is a critical factor in efficiency and productivity. It increases the dexterity of each worker, saves time when moving from one operation to another,
promotes the invention of machines and mechanisms that facilitate and reduce labor.


Smith prepared his work during the industrial revolution. But under him, manufacturing based on manual labor still reigned. And here the main thing is not the machine, but the division of labor within the enterprise.


In the first chapter of his work, Smith gives an example of the division of labor in the production of pins. He visited a pin factory. Ten people produced 48,000 pins a day, or each worker - 4800. And if they worked alone, they could work no more than 20 pins. A factory worker - 4800 and a single artisan - only 20 products per day of work. The performance difference is 240 times! Smith's example with the pin factory, showing the possibility of increasing labor productivity tens and hundreds of times, was repeatedly reproduced by the authors of educational manuals.


Division of labor does not improve efficiency
only in one enterprise, but also in society as a whole. Smith says
about the role played by the social division of labor 1. And again
refers to an example, now with the production of scissors. The following people participate in the creation of scissors: miner, woodcutter, charcoal miner, builder, mason, forge, blacksmith, cutler, driller, tool maker.


The deeper the division of labor, the more intense the exchange. People produce products not for personal consumption, but for the sake of exchange for products from other producers. “It was not with gold or silver, but only with labor that all the riches of the world were originally acquired; and their value to those who own them and who want to exchange them for some new product is exactly equal to the amount of labor that he can buy with them or have at his disposal.”


“Give me what I need and you will get what you need.” “It is in this way that we obtain from each other a much larger part of the services that we need” 2 - these provisions of Smith are often quoted by commentators on his work.


What is the reason for the development and deepening of the division of labor in society? First of all, with the size of the market. Limited market demand constrains the growth of the division of labor. For example, in the small villages of the Scottish Highlands, labor is still poorly divided: “every farmer must be at the same time a butcher, baker and brewer for his family.”


2.2. The principle of the “invisible hand” in a market economy


One of the leading ideas of The Wealth of Nations is about the “invisible hand”. This aphoristic expression of Smith is remembered whenever his main work is discussed, on which he worked for several years after leaving teaching.


The idea itself, in my opinion, is quite original for the 18th century. and could not go unnoticed by Smith's contemporaries. However, already in the 18th century. There was an idea of ​​the natural equality of people: every person, regardless of birth and position, should be given an equal right to pursue his own benefit, and the whole society would benefit from this.


Adam Smith developed this idea and applied it to political economy. The idea created by the scientist about the nature of man and the relationship between man and society formed the basis of the views of the classical school. The concept of “homo oeconomicus” (“economic man”) arose somewhat later, but its inventors relied on Smith. The famous phrase about the “invisible hand” may be the most often quoted passage from The Wealth of Nations. Adam Smith was able to guess the most fruitful idea that under certain social conditions, which we today describe with the term “working competition,” private interests can indeed be harmoniously combined with the interests of society.


The “invisible hand” is the spontaneous action of objective economic laws that act against the will of people. By introducing the concept of economic law into science in this form, Smith took an important step forward. With this, he essentially put political economy on a scientific basis. Smith called the conditions under which the beneficial effects of selfish interest and spontaneous laws of economic development are most effectively realized the natural order. For Smith and subsequent generations of political economists, this concept has a double meaning. On the one hand, this is the principle and goal of economic policy, that is, the policy of laissez faire (or, as Smith puts it, natural freedom), on the other hand, it is a theoretical construct, a “model” for the study of economic reality.


Just as “ideal” gases and liquids were modeled in physics, Smith introduces the concept of “economic man” and free (perfect) competition into economics. A real man cannot be reduced to self-interest. In the same way, under capitalism there has never been and can be absolutely free competition. However, science would not be able to study “massive” economic phenomena and processes if it did not make certain assumptions that simplify, model an infinitely complex and diverse reality, and highlight the most important features in it. From this point of view, the abstraction of “economic man” and free competition was completely justified and played a vital role in economic science (especially it corresponded to the reality of the 18th – 19th centuries).


A market economy is not controlled from a single center and is not subject to one general plan. However, it functions according to certain rules, follows a known order.


Each participant in economic activity seeks only his own benefit. The influence of an individual on the implementation of the needs of society is almost imperceptible. But by pursuing his own benefit, a person ultimately contributes to an increase in the social product, the growth of the public good.


This is achieved, as Smith wrote, through the "invisible hand" of market laws. The desire for personal gain leads to general benefit, to the development of production and progress. Each individual takes care of himself, but society benefits. By pursuing his own interests, a person "often serves the interests of society more effectively than when he consciously strives to do so."


What prevents “greedy producers” from raising prices to the point where buyers are unable to pay more?
The answer is competition. If producers raise their prices too high, they create an opportunity for one or more of their group to make a profit by charging a lower price and therefore selling more.


Thus, competition curbs egoism and regulates prices. At the same time, she regulates the quantity. If buyers want more bread and less cheese, their demand allows bakers to charge a higher price, and then the income of those who bake bread will increase and those who make cheese will fall; labor efforts and capital will flow from one industry to another.


Seeing the world through Smith's eyes, one can again and again marvel at this powerful mechanism and enjoy, as he did, the paradox that private gain produces benefit for the public good. And today, even more so, since the transactions through which modern industrial goods reach their consumers are much more complex than those described by Smith.


Each transaction is voluntary. Self-interest and competition create a mechanism that processes dizzying amounts of information and directs the flow of goods, services, capital and labor - just as in Smith's much simpler world.


The “invisible hand” of market laws leads to a goal that was not at all part of the individual’s intentions.


If, for example, the demand for a product rises, say bread, then bakers increase the price for it. Their incomes are growing. Labor and capital move from one industry to another, in this case the baking industry. Bread production increases, and prices will creep down again. Smith showed the power and importance of self-interest as an internal spring of competition and an economic mechanism.


The economic world is a huge workshop where competition unfolds between different types of labor to create social wealth. Mercantilist opinion about the special meaning precious metals, money is wrong. If the goal is to accumulate money and it remains idle, then this will lead to a reduction in the number of products or structures that could be produced or purchased with this money 1 .


The paradox or essence of the market mechanism is that private interest and the desire for one’s own benefit benefits society and ensures the achievement of the common good. In a market economy (in a market mechanism), there is an “invisible hand” of market forces and market laws.


In the XVIII century. There was a widespread prejudice according to which any action performed for the sake of private interest, for this alone reason goes contrary to the interests of society. Even today, some socialists argue that a free market economy cannot serve the interests of society. Smith lifted the burden of proof and created a postulate: decentralized, atomistic competition in a certain sense provides “maximum satisfaction of needs.” Undoubtedly, Smith did not provide a complete and satisfactory explanation of his postulate. Sometimes it may even seem that this postulate rests only on the consideration that the degrees of satisfaction of individual needs are amenable to arithmetic addition: if, having complete freedom, everyone achieves the full satisfaction of individual needs, then common mode maximum freedom will ensure maximum satisfaction of the needs of society.


But in fact, writes M. Blaug, Smith gave a much deeper justification for his doctrine of “maximum satisfaction of needs” 1. In the seventh chapter of Book I, he showed that free competition tends to equate prices to production costs, optimizing the allocation of resources within industries. In the tenth chapter of Book I, he showed that free competition in factor markets tends to equalize “the net advantages of these factors across all industries and thereby establishes the optimal allocation of resources among industries.” He did not say that various factors would be combined in optimal proportions in production or that goods would be optimally distributed among consumers. He also did not say that economies of scale and side effects of production often interfere with the achievement of a competitive optimum, although the essence of this phenomenon is reflected in discussions about public works. But he did take the first step towards the theory of optimal allocation of given resources under conditions of perfect competition, which is especially interesting in light of the issue we are considering.


In other words, the “invisible hand”, regardless of the will and intentions of the individual - the “economic man” - directs him and all people to the best results, benefits and higher goals of society, thereby justifying, as it were, the desire of an egoist to put personal interest above public interest . Thus, Smith’s “invisible hand” presupposes such a relationship between “economic man” and society, i.e., the “visible hand” of public administration, when the latter, without opposing the objective laws of economics, will cease to limit exports and imports and act as an artificial barrier to the “natural » market order.


Therefore, the market mechanism of management, and according to Smith - “an obvious and simple system of natural freedom”, thanks to the “invisible hand” will always be automatically balanced. In order to achieve legal and institutional guarantees and define the boundaries of its non-interference, the state remains “three very important responsibilities.” He includes among them: costs of public works (to “create and maintain certain public buildings and public institutions”, to provide remuneration for teachers, judges, officials, priests and others who serve the interests of the “sovereign or state”); provision costs military security; costs of administering justice, including the protection of property rights.


So, “in every civilized society” there are omnipotent and inevitable economic laws - this is the leitmotif of A. Smith’s research methodology.


A prerequisite for economic laws to operate is, according to A. Smith, free competition. Only she, he believes, can deprive market participants of power over price, and the more sellers, the less likely monopolism is, because “monopolists, maintaining a constant shortage of products on the market and never fully satisfying actual demand, sell their goods much more expensive than the natural price and raise their income..." 1 . In defense of the ideas of free competition, A. Smith condemns the exclusive privileges of trading companies, apprenticeship laws, shop regulations, poor laws, believing that they (the laws) limit the labor market, labor mobility and the scope of competition. He is also convinced that as soon as representatives of the same type of trade and craft get together, their conversation rarely ends in “... a conspiracy against the public or some agreement to raise prices” 2.


To be fair, his own belief in the benefits of the “invisible hand” has little to do with considerations about the efficiency of resource allocation in the static conditions of perfect competition. He considered a decentralized price system desirable because it produces dynamic results: it expands the scale of the market, multiplies advantages, multiplies the advantages associated with the division of labor - in short, it works like a powerful engine that ensures capital accumulation and income growth.


One of the core ideas that Smith used as the basis for the system he developed was the theory of value and price. He argued: “Labor is the only universal, as well as the only accurate, measure of value” 3. Value, according to Smith, is determined by the labor expended, and not by one specific person, but by the average required for a given level of development of the productive forces. Smith noted the equivalence of all types of productive labor involved in the creation of value.


Considering the problem of pricing and the essence of price, Smith put forward two propositions.


The first says: the price of a product is determined by the labor expended on it. But this provision, in his opinion, is applicable only at the first stages of the development of society, in “primitive societies.” And Smith puts forward a second proposition, according to which value, and therefore price, is composed of labor costs, profit, interest on capital, land rent, i.e. determined by production costs.


“For example, in the price of corn, one part of it goes to pay the rent of the landowner, the second to the wages or maintenance of the workers... and the third part is the profit of the farmer.” Smith did not make a final choice between these two concepts; his followers, supporters and opponents could adhere to both the first and second concepts.


The second interpretation is associated with Smith’s attempt to move from an analysis of simple commodity production (“primitive society”) to a consideration of commodity-capitalist production, in which living labor ceases to be the true source of value.


Previously, the means of labor belonged to the worker. In a society that preceded the accumulation of capital and the conversion of land into private property, the ratio between the quantities of labor required to acquire different objects was, apparently, the only basis that could serve as a guide for exchanging them for each other. The entire product of labor belongs to the worker and the amount of labor expended is the only measure of price.


Subsequently, as capital accumulates, the situation changes. The value of goods is divided into two parts, one of which is wages, the other is profitable capital.


“In this state of affairs, the worker does not always own the entire Product of his labor. In most cases he must share it with the owner of the capital who employs him. In such a case, the quantity of labor usually expended in the acquisition or production of any commodity is not the only condition for determining the quantity of labor that can be purchased or received in exchange for it.”
1 .


Economic concepts, categories, provisions developed by Smith in his work, as a rule, are interrelated. Value is created only by productive labor. Division of labor is the main prerequisite for increasing productivity and increasing wealth.


Smith sought to clarify and streamline terminology. From him, for example, such categories as productive and unproductive labor, fixed and working capital, “natural” and “market” price came into use.


Smith believed that the market must be protected from external interference. In this regard, he polemicized with both the mercantilists and the physiocrats, in particular with Quesnay.


“Some thoughtful doctors thought that for health; a political body requires a strict diet and regulation,” Smith sneers. “He apparently did not think that in a political body the natural effort made by each person to improve his condition is a principle of protection, capable of preventing and correcting in many respects the evil actions of some political economy, to a certain extent partial and constrained. » 2. She is “late in her actions” and cannot stop the progress of the nation. The natural order is hampered by “hundreds of absurd barriers” erected by the “recklessness of human laws,” but it overcomes them.


3. The significance of Adam Smith's ideas for modern times


The interest in the creative heritage of Adam Smith, which economists in almost all civilized countries experience today, indicates that many of Smith’s economic ideas, expressed by him at the dawn of capitalist production, remain relevant today. Among them, first of all, is the problem of relationships. state power and monopolies, attitude to the principles of economic non-intervention, and the policy of mercantilism.


According to Western experts, the central theme of the “Wealth of Nations,” which deserves unconditional attention today, is the creation of a social order in which an individual, seeking to satisfy his own personal interest, will inevitably take care of the good and satisfaction of the interests of the whole society, that is. The relevance of Adam Smith's ideas is determined, first of all, by the development of general economic theory, in particular, the problems of monopolistic and government subsidies and the possibilities of centralized economic planning.


Subsidies from the state and capitalist associations are a fundamental theme formulated in The Wealth of Nations. Smith, as has been repeatedly noted, defends the thesis according to which a country that truly cares about increasing its own wealth must create a legislative framework that can provide conditions for maximum economic freedom for every individual and every producer.


It is personal interest that should encourage individuals to enter into exchange relations with each other and thus contribute to the overall progress of market relations.


At the same time, according to the observations of Adam Smith, on the path to a harmonious coincidence of the interests of private individuals and socially desirable goals, such an obstacle inevitably arises as, in many cases, the contradictory immediate economic interests of the state and capitalist monopolies.


The criticism of monopolies in The Wealth of Nations consists mainly of three main components. The first criticism is related to the author's assertion that high market prices, monopolistically set by capitalist associations, reduce the welfare of consumers.


This situation entails such Negative consequences, as generally ineffective economic management, in which Adam Smith sees the second reason for criticism of monopolies. "Monopoly is the enemy good governance which can never be universal,” Smith wrote. This meant that economic management in conditions of free competition could not simultaneously satisfy the interests of both monopolists and the masses of small entrepreneurs, who were nevertheless forced to seek help from the state for the purpose of self-defense.


The third direction of criticism against monopolies in Adam Smith's study is associated with the general statement that the activities of monopolies lead to the spontaneous enrichment of some individuals to the detriment of the interests of others, thereby exacerbating property and social differentiation in society. In accordance with the author's ideas, the development of capitalist monopolies - ideal for society as a whole and all its citizens individually - could only be ensured with the help of the government.


An analysis of Adam Smith's work shows that he distinguished between three types of capitalist monopolies. The first of them is a monopoly that arose on the basis of the mercantilism policy pursued by England in relations with its colonies. The purpose of this policy was to monopolize colonial trade.


As monopolies of the second type, Adam Smith considered guilds (“corporations”) of producers who had the exclusive right to produce certain products. According to Adam Smith, it was necessary to regulate the activities of such monopolies legislatively, while maintaining concern for the interests of free enterprise. Such statements of the “classic of bourgeois political economy” today find confirmation in the continuous debate about the limits of economic intervention that the government could afford in order to increase or limit the monopolistic power of associations.


It is not difficult to notice that a certain inconsistency in the presentation of economic concepts - criticism of the policy of mercantilism, on the one hand, and propaganda of the need for legislative regulation of monopolistic aspirations, on the other hand - allows today supporters of both the first and the second to appeal to the ideas of Adam Smith. In particular, as an argument to support their views, supporters of a regulated economy cite Smith's assertion that any form of monopoly leads to an increase in the price of the product it produces.


The second most important area of ​​study of Adam Smith's theory is the need, possibilities and scope of centralized economic planning. Interest in this topic is especially pronounced during periods of economic downturns and depression of the market economy.


As has been repeatedly mentioned, Adam Smith in his Wealth of Nations defends the view that the achievement of socially desirable goals can most easily be achieved not through centralized economic planning, but as a result of the implementation of the economic plans of private individuals who are best versed in the problems of their own economic survival.


It is these views of Smith that are used by opponents of government intervention in the economy in debates on the issue of possible influence government on private investment and the extent of this influence. Thus, for example, in the United States, they criticize government acts aimed at supporting the placement of private capital that is beneficial for the economy of the country as a whole and expressed in regulating the amount of loan interest on invested capital depending on the social significance of a particular investment.


Based on the arguments of Adam Smith, opponents of state regulation of the economy also criticize tax legislation that provides for different tariffs for different types of income on capital. In the field of discussions arising against this background, there is also such a problem raised by Adam Smith as the replacement of the market with an organized centralized distribution of the total income of society. The market economy of no civilized country today can do without state intervention in the distribution system, which is expressed in the establishment of taxes on income, real estate, payment of unemployment benefits, etc.


Finally, one of the most important problems from the point of view of the author of “The Wealth of Nations”, which has not lost its relevance to this day, is the need to establish and consolidate a direct relationship between the measure of a worker’s labor and remuneration for his work.


All of the above proves that it is no coincidence that the economic ideas of Adam Smith have been exciting the minds of leading economists of mankind for so long and - moreover - require close attention at all stages of the development of the capitalist mode of production.


Many modern researchers of the creative heritage of Adam Smith note that the underestimation of his views and the lack of interest in them at present are associated mainly with numerous vulgar modifications of the basic ideas of the classic created by his followers. Criticism of Adam Smith's economic views is also addressed not so much to the original source as to its subsequent not very scrupulous interpretations.


Meanwhile, as numerous international seminars dedicated to discussing the creative legacy of Adam Smith show, many ideas of the “classic of bourgeois political economy” have not lost their relevance and can be effectively used in the conditions of not only a barely nascent, but also a highly developed market economy.


Conclusion


Thus, the work carried out a biographical analysis creative path Adam Smith as the founder of the classical school. Smith's work is characterized by amazing simplicity and clarity of presentation. But this is both convenience and difficulty. To comprehend the essence of Smith's ideas, it takes time, leisurely reflection, and more than once you have to return to what you read.


The work examines the following issues: labor theory of value and division of labor; the "invisible hand" of market forces; "economic man" according to Smith; two approaches to value formation; the principle of economic freedom; the role of the state and principles of taxation.


Summing up a brief summary, we will try to highlight the main provisions of the work, which for Smith became the main result of his creative life.


Unlike the physiocrats, who believed that the economic system is a system that must be discovered by the creative mind, and the ruler must approve, Smith proceeds from the fact that there is no need to either invent or create an economic system, such a system exists, and this is where the motives lie and incentives for economic activity, fundamental principles market mechanism


The scientist recognizes and describes its mechanism, constituent elements and relationships. At the heart of the economic mechanism is the “economic man”. In pursuit of his own benefit, he is guided by an “invisible hand” to achieve a result that was not part of his intentions. By pursuing his own interest, a person contributes to the common benefit.


Freedom economic activity individuals should not be prevented, it should not be strictly regulated. Smith opposes unnecessary restrictions on the part of the state; he is for free trade, including foreign trade, for the policy of free trade, and against protectionism.


The theory of value and prices are developed as initial categories in the general theoretical system of economic science. Smith's main work is distinguished by the versatility of the problems under consideration, their systematization, on the one hand, realism, and the practical significance of many provisions, on the other.


Smith's overall creative vision was very extensive. The scientist wanted to create a comprehensive theory of man and society. The first part was “The Theory of Moral Sentiments.” This work was published, it promotes the idea of ​​equality, the obligation of moral principles for all members of society. The second part of the plan is “The Wealth of Nations”. This work arose to a certain extent from lectures given by a professor at the University of Glasgow. The third part was to be “History and theory of culture (science, art).” It was never written, and the preparatory notes, sketches, and materials were destroyed.


Probably, the versatility and breadth of ideas contributed to the success of economic work.


Smith's influence affected more than just one school; in fact, it affected several areas: the Ricardian school (labor theory of value); and those schools and individual economists who developed the problems of price and pricing based on the relationship between supply and demand (Marshall school) or on the basis of the use value of goods (Austrian school); and those who studied the influence and interaction of factors of production (Say). The concept of free trade found its theoretical justification in the theory of comparative costs, according to which the division of labor in the sphere international exchange serves as the most important prerequisite for increasing productivity and obtaining economic benefit. The “wealth of nations” was also the focus of attention of opponents of the classical school, who opposed the excessive formalization of economic science (historical school, institutionalism).


The main merit of A. Smith, an economist of the manufacturing period, was the creation of the first holistic economic system based on the amount of knowledge that had been accumulated by that point in social development. And considering the work of A. Smith from the heights of our time, we pay tribute to the grandiose work that he did and the fruits of which we enjoy to this day. Therefore, we can rightfully call A. Smith a classic of economic thought.


However, A. Smith does not complete the development of the classical school. He came out with his main economic work just before the industrial revolution. The object of A. Smith's research was capitalism, which had not yet received its adequate production and technical base in the form of machine industry. This circumstance, to a certain extent, determined the relative underdevelopment of A. Smith’s economic system itself. But the theory served as the starting point for subsequent development in the works of D. Ricardo, and then other great economists.

Adam Smith Baptized and possibly born June 5 (16), 1723 in Kirkcaldy, Scotland, Kingdom of Great Britain - died July 17, 1790 in Edinburgh, Scotland, Kingdom of Great Britain. Scottish economist, ethical philosopher; one of the founders of modern economic theory.

Adam Smith was born in June 1723 (the exact date of his birth is unknown) and baptized on June 5 in the town of Kirkcaldy in the Scottish county of Fife. His father, a customs official also named Adam Smith, died 2 months before his son was born. It is assumed that Adam was the only child in the family, since no records of his brothers and sisters have been found anywhere. At the age of 4, he was kidnapped by gypsies, but was quickly rescued by his uncle and returned to his mother. It is believed that Kirkcaldy had a good school and from childhood Adam was surrounded by books.

At the age of 14, he entered the University of Glasgow, where he studied ethical philosophy under Francis Hutcheson for two years. In his first year, he studied logic (this was a mandatory requirement), then moved to the class of moral philosophy; studied ancient languages ​​(especially ancient Greek), mathematics and astronomy. Adam had a reputation as a strange person - for example, among a noisy company he could suddenly think deeply - but an intelligent person. In 1740 he entered Balliol College, Oxford, receiving a scholarship to continue his education, and graduated in 1746. Smith was critical of the quality of teaching at Oxford, writing in The Wealth of Nations that “at Oxford University the majority of the professors have for many years now given up even the appearance of teaching.” At the university, he was often sick, read a lot, but did not yet show interest in economics.

In the summer of 1746, after the uprising of Stuart supporters, he returned to Kirkcaldy, where he spent two years educating himself.

In 1748, Smith began lecturing at the University of Edinburgh - under the patronage of Lord Kames (Henry Hume), whom he met during one of his trips to Edinburgh. Initially these were lectures on English literature, later on natural law (which included jurisprudence, political doctrines, sociology and economics). It was the preparation of lectures for students at this university that became the impetus for Adam Smith to formulate his ideas about the problems of economics. He began to express the ideas of economic liberalism, presumably in 1750-1751.

The basis of Adam Smith's scientific theory was the desire to look at a person from three sides: from the standpoint of morality and morality, from a civil and governmental standpoint, and from an economic standpoint.

Adam lectured on rhetoric, the art of letter writing, and later on the subject of "the acquisition of wealth", where he first expounded in detail the economic philosophy of the "evident and simple system of natural liberty", which was reflected in his most famous work, An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations "

Around 1750, Adam Smith met someone who was almost a decade older than him. The similarity of their views, reflected in their writings on history, politics, philosophy, economics and religion, shows that together they formed an intellectual alliance that played an important role in the period of the so-called Scottish Enlightenment.

In 1751 Smith was appointed professor of logic at the University of Glasgow. Smith lectured on ethics, rhetoric, jurisprudence, and political economy. In 1759, Smith published The Theory of Moral Sentiments, based on his lectures. In this work, Smith analyzed the ethical standards of behavior that ensure social stability. At the same time, he actually opposed church morality, based on the fear of punishment after death and promises of paradise, proposed the “principle of sympathy” as the basis for moral assessments, according to which what is moral is that which evokes the approval of impartial and insightful observers, and also spoke out in favor of ethical equality people - the equal applicability of moral standards to all people.

Smith lived in Glasgow for 12 years, regularly leaving for 2-3 months in Edinburgh; here he was respected, made a circle of friends, and led the lifestyle of a club-going bachelor.

There is information that Adam Smith almost got married twice, in Edinburgh and in Glasgow, but for some reason this did not happen. Neither in the memoirs of his contemporaries, nor in his correspondence is there any evidence that this would seriously affect him. Smith lived with his mother (whom he outlived by 6 years) and his unmarried cousin (who died two years before him). One of the contemporaries who visited Smith's house recorded that national Scottish food was served in the house and Scottish customs were observed. Smith valued folk song, dance, and poetry, and one of his last book orders was several copies of the first published volume of poetry by Robert Burns (who himself held Smith in high esteem, and repeatedly referred to his work in his correspondence). Despite the fact that Scottish morality did not encourage the theater, Smith himself loved it, especially the French theater.

The source of information about the development of Smith's ideas comes from notes of Smith's lectures, presumably taken in 1762-63 by one of his students and found by the economist Edwan Cannan. According to the lectures, Smith's course in moral philosophy by that time was more of a course in sociology and political economy; materialistic ideas were expressed, as well as the beginnings of ideas that were developed in The Wealth of Nations. Other sources include drafts of the first chapters of Wealth found in the 1930s; they date from 1763. These sketches contain ideas about the role of the division of labor, the concept of productive and unproductive labor, and so on; mercantilism is criticized and the rationale for Laissez-faire is given.

In 1764-66, Smith lived in France, being the tutor of the Duke of Buccleuch. This mentoring greatly improved his situation: he had to receive not only a salary, but also a pension, which later allowed him not to return to Glasgow University and work on a book. In Paris, he was present at the “mezzanine club” of François Quesnay, that is, he personally became acquainted with the ideas of the physiocrats; however, according to evidence, at these meetings he listened more than he spoke. However, the scientist and writer Abbé Morellet said in his memoirs that Smith's talent was appreciated by Monsieur Turgot; he repeatedly talked with Smith about the theory of trade, banks, public credit and other issues of “the great work that he was planning.” From the correspondence it is known that Smith also communicated with d’Alembert and Holbach, in addition, he was introduced into the salon of Madame Geoffrin, Mademoiselle Lespinasse, and visited Helvetius.

Before their trip to Paris (from December 1765 to October 1766), Smith and Buccleuch lived in Toulouse for a year and a half, and for several days in Geneva. Here Smith visited his Geneva estate.

The influence of the physiocrats on Smith is debatable; Dupont de Nemours believed that the main ideas of The Wealth of Nations had been borrowed, and therefore Professor Cannan's discovery of the Glasgow student's lectures was extremely important as proof that the main ideas had already been formed in Smith before the French trip.

After returning from France, Smith worked in London for six months as an unofficial expert to the Chancellor of the Exchequer, and from the spring of 1767 he lived reclusively in Kirkcaldy for six years, working on a book. At the same time, he did not write the book himself, but dictated it to the secretary, after which he corrected and processed the manuscript and allowed it to be rewritten completely. He complained that the intense, monotonous work was undermining his health, and in 1773, when leaving for London, he even considered it necessary to formally transfer the rights to his literary inheritance to Hume. He himself believed that he was going to London with a finished manuscript, however, in fact, in London it took him more than two years to revise it, taking into account new statistical information and other publications. During the revision process, to make it easier to understand, he eliminated most of the references to the works of other authors.

Smith became world famous after publishing the book An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations. in 1776. This book analyzes in detail how an economy could operate in conditions of complete economic freedom and exposes everything that prevents this. The book substantiates the concept of laissez-faire (the principle of freedom of economic development), shows the socially useful role of individual egoism, and emphasizes the special importance of the division of labor and the vastness of the market for the growth of labor productivity and national well-being. The Wealth of Nations introduced economics as a science based on the doctrine of free enterprise.

In 1778 Smith was appointed one of the five Commissioners of Customs for Scotland at Edinburgh. Having a very high salary for those times of 600 pounds sterling, he continued to lead a modest lifestyle and spent money on charity; the only valuable thing left after him was the library collected during his life. He took his service seriously, which made it difficult scientific activity; Initially, however, he planned to write a third book, a general history of culture and science. After his death, what the author had saved the day before was published - notes on the history of astronomy and philosophy, as well as the fine arts. The rest of Smith's archive was burned at his request. During Smith's lifetime, The Theory of Moral Sentiments was published 6 times, and The Wealth of Nations 5 times; The third edition of “Wealth” was significantly expanded, including the chapter “Conclusion on the mercantilistic system.” In Edinburgh, Smith had his own club, on Sundays he hosted dinners for friends, and visited, among others, Princess Vorontsova-Dashkova. Smith died in Edinburgh after a long bowel disease on July 17, 1790.

Adam Smith was slightly above average height; had regular facial features, blue-gray eyes, a large straight nose and an upright figure. He dressed modestly, wore a wig, loved to walk with a bamboo cane on his shoulder, and sometimes talked to himself.

The main works of Adam Smith:

Lectures on Rhetoric and Letter Writing (1748)
Theory of Moral Sentiments (1759)
Lectures on Rhetoric and Letter Writing (1762-1763, published 1958)
Lectures on jurisprudence (1766)
An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations (1776)
An Account of the Life and Works of David Hume (1777)
Thoughts on the state of competition with America (1778)
Essays on Philosophical Subjects (1785)
Double nesting system (1784)

1.2 Philosophy of “economic man” and division of labor. Theory of productive and unproductive labor

1.3 The doctrine of value. Theory of income: wages, profits and rents

1.4 The doctrine of capital and money

Conclusion

Bibliography

Introduction

Historically, the formation of economic science almost everywhere is most often associated with the name and work of Adam Smith (1723 - 1790), the greatest English economist of the late 18th century. This “human weakness” will obviously not be overcome soon, because unlike the natural sciences, which, as a rule, require an idea of ​​the current level of knowledge, economic science can hardly be comprehended without becoming acquainted with the theoretical views of the outstanding economists of classical political economy. Among them, Adam Smith is undoubtedly the central figure.

The relevance of this topic is confirmed by the fact that it was Smith, as M. Blaug said, who became the one who created “the first full-fledged work in economic science, setting out the general basis of science.”

The purpose of this work is to study the teachings of Adam Smith.

The study of this work determined a number of tasks:

1. Consider “a study of the nature and causes of the wealth of nations.”

2. Analyze Smith's doctrine of value, capital and money.

The works of V. Kruglov, Y. Yadgarov and other authors were used as a theoretical basis.

1 Teachings of Adam Smith

1.1 “An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations”: content and structure

"Adam Smith - the father of economics." Surely everyone is familiar with this expression.

Most researchers of economic thought associate the formation of economics as a science with the work of this English thinker. According to the renowned modern theorist Mark Blaug (1927), Adam Smith (1723-1790) produced "the first... complete work laying down the general basis of economic science." This is "An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations" (1776). It consists of five books: the first two set out Smith's theoretical constructs, the rest present his views on various practical issues, the history of social development and previously created systems of political economy. The first book contains the doctrine of labor as a source of wealth, division of labor, value, money, pricing, income (wages, profits, land rent). The second book examines capital: its structure and accumulation. The third is devoted to the history of the development of the economy of various peoples. The fourth book examines the theories of the mercantilists and physiocrats. The fifth analyzes issues of financial and tax policy. By the subject of economic science, Smith understood the economic development of society and the improvement of its well-being. Various aspects of this problem are considered by him in The Wealth of Nations, which marked a fundamental shift in the evolution of economic ideas: on the one hand, Smith summed up the previous work of economic thought, combining almost all areas of economic research; on the other hand, his work became the starting point for further research.

1.2 Philosophy of “economic man”

and division of labor. Theory of productive and unproductive labor

Of particular importance for Smith was his acquaintance with the French philosopher Claude Adrian Helvetius (1715-1771), who considered egoism to be a natural property of man and a factor social progress. Linked to this was another basic idea of ​​French philosophy of the Enlightenment. – the idea of ​​the natural equality of people, according to which everyone should be given the right to pursue their own advantage, as a result of which the whole society will benefit. Restriction of human freedom is permissible only insofar as it is required to ensure the freedom of other people; the state must be based on a free social contract of citizens. Smith developed these ideas and applied them to political economy; The ideas he created about human nature, as well as the relationship between man and society, formed the basis for the views of the classical school. The concept of “economic man” arose somewhat later, but its creators relied on Smith’s ideas.

Smith considered selfish interest to be the main motive for human economic activity: everyone strives to make the most profitable use of their capital, often without thinking about the public benefit. Alone, a person cannot satisfy all his needs, so people are forced to interact, exchanging the products of their labor. This is how the division of labor develops. By helping each other, people contribute to the development of society, pursuing private interests, they are guided with an “invisible hand” towards a socially useful goal. "The Invisible Hand" – this is the spontaneous action of objective economic laws acting in addition to, and often against, the will of people. The conditions under which the beneficial effects of private interest and spontaneous laws of economic development are most effectively carried out, Smith called the natural order. The scientist considered the division of labor to be the most important factor in economic progress. Using the example of a pin factory, he showed a huge increase in labor productivity due to the specialization of individual workers in performing one operation. Workshop – This is an illustration, the whole society works like such a manufacture, not only the owners of the means of production benefit from the division of labor, but also everyone else.

Smith was not the first to address the problem of division of labor (ancient Greek philosophers wrote about this). But he highlighted a number of new points: he saw the universal nature of the division of labor – from simple operations to professions (then to classes and the division of the country into cities and villages); showed that the division of labor can have different degrees and the more there are, the more productive the labor; linked the division of labor with cost reduction. He linked the division of labor with the size of the market, that is, with the prevalence of exchange. If the market is small, occupational specialization is not common. In a remote village, a peasant must be both a carpenter and a baker, since he cannot feed himself by craft alone. A village shop sells a lot of things: from nails and ropes to food and fabrics, because if it specializes, like city shops, in selling some goods, it will soon stop trading due to a lack of buyers, that is, a limited market. The expansion of markets provides more and more prerequisites for the division of labor and specialization of production, which, in turn, increases labor productivity.

One of Smith's main ideas is that the wealth of a society is created by labor in the production process and depends on the level of labor productivity and the proportion of the population engaged in productive work. The scientist formulated the theory of productive and unproductive labor. According to her, productive – labor engaged in the sphere of material production, increasing the value of the object to which it is attached and in which it is fixed; and unproductive – labor to provide services that adds nothing to value and is not fixed in the object to which it is attached. A productive worker is paid out of capital and creates a profit for his employer, while an unproductive worker is paid out of income and does not create a profit for his employer. The degree of productivity is also different different types economic activity, which is precisely determined by the amount of productive labor involved. Based on this, the most productive are Agriculture and industry, followed by domestic and foreign trade, as well as transport.

1.3 The doctrine of value. Theory of income: wages, profits and rents.

Smith paid much attention to the “value” category. He argued that labor – this is the only measure of value. In a primitive society, it can be determined by the labor expended on the production of goods and the labor purchased in the process of exchange. The use of both methods is permissible, since in simple commodity production there is no fundamental difference between the amount of the first and second types of labor. In a civilized (capitalist) society, there are capital and wage labor in production, the entrepreneur receives more value than he pays for the labor of hired workers, therefore, the amount of the second type of labor is less than the amount of the first, which means that the principle of equivalence is violated - the basis of the labor theory of value. Solving the problem that has arisen, the scientist says that under capitalism, value can be determined by the sum of three types of income (salaries, profits and rents). Here we come to Smith's theory of income.

The scientist unconditionally supported the new industrial system; the benefits of developing exchange and large-scale production for all layers of society seemed obvious to him. New forms of economy are technically superior, they increase the wealth of the people, and Smith does not hesitate to take their side. The breakdown of society into three main classes: workers, capitalists, landowners – The scientist considered it natural, although he recognized that at lower stages of development, society is not divided into classes, and the product of labor belongs to the producer who owns the land and tools of production. The classes mentioned differ both in their income and in the relation of their interests to the interests of the whole society.

Wage – income of hired workers. They are interested in general prosperity, because with the acceleration of capital accumulation, the demand for labor and wages increase. Using historical examples, Smith showed that the level of wages directly depends on the growth of national wealth: not its absolute value, but precisely the growth rate. Labor prices are highest not in the richest countries, but in those where industry and trade flourish, where wealth grows fastest. The extraordinary level of wages in the United States was explained precisely by the rapid growth of the wealth of this state. In a country whose wealth is great but not growing, wages cannot be high, because population growth with a stagnant state of wealth quickly leads to an excess of the supply of labor over the demand for it and, consequently, to a fall in wages. Workers in countries whose wealth is declining are even worse off: they face poverty and hunger as the demand for labor falls far below its supply. So, for Smith, it is obvious that the main interest of the workers – in the rapid growth of national wealth, that is, the interests of the working class coincide with the interests of society as a whole. These arguments explain how a scientist could simultaneously support the new industrial order and sympathize with the working class. Nothing caused him such indignation as the restriction of the worker’s freedom to seek his own income: “The most sacred and inviolable right of property is the right to one’s own labor, because from this right all other property rights flow. All the poor man's wealth consists of his strength and the dexterity of his hands; to prevent him from using this strength and dexterity as he pleases, if he does not harm anyone thereby, is a clear violation of this original property.”