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The Wealth of Nations

1776 · 18th century · Also known as An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations

The Wealth of Nations, in full An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations, is a book by Adam Smith published in London in 1776. It argued that wealth comes from labour and the division of labour, and that free competition, guided as if by an invisible hand, serves the public good better than mercantilist regulation. It is the founding work of classical economics.

The Wealth of Nations
Image: Gerhard Streminger · Public domain · Wikimedia Commons
Cite this entry
APA
The Epoch Institute. (2026). The Wealth of Nations. In The Epoch Institute Encyclopedia. https://the-epoch-institute.org/encyclopedia/the-wealth-of-nations
MLA
“The Wealth of Nations.” The Epoch Institute Encyclopedia, The Epoch Institute, 2026, https://the-epoch-institute.org/encyclopedia/the-wealth-of-nations. Accessed .
Chicago
The Epoch Institute. “The Wealth of Nations.” The Epoch Institute Encyclopedia. 2026. https://the-epoch-institute.org/encyclopedia/the-wealth-of-nations.
Harvard
The Epoch Institute (2026) ‘The Wealth of Nations’, The Epoch Institute Encyclopedia. Available at: https://the-epoch-institute.org/encyclopedia/the-wealth-of-nations (Accessed: ).

Last reviewed October 2026Random entry ↻