Rating: 
Summary: The Great Work of a Great Mind.
Review: Although this book is hailed as one of the greatest works in Economics ever and set the foundations for contemporary Economic thought, the Wealth of Nations is not a good read. It is extremely difficult to digest and requires extreme concentration. Few would read the book unless required in an Economics course or the like. Smith was undoubtedly a genius - way ahead of his time. However, the reader must have as great an intellect to fully comprehend what Smith is writing. Perhaps "user-friendly" books were not the fashion of the times.
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Summary: Not only the foundation, but also the only truth
Review: As an economcics student, I feel shame of the development of economic thought over these 200 years since the publication of this book. As pointed out by Ronald Coase,we don't see any further insight on the understanding of economic system over these 200 years. We could only see every newspaper and magazines are talking on how to stimulate the consumption to boost the GDP; or government officials announce to increase government expenditure to stimulate the economy. It seems that the only question to economic growth depends on how much we spend. But if it is true, do it imply that we could be wealthy by just spend and spend and without further work?It is only after reading the first sentence of the book I remember the only truth that seems also to be forgotten by many people: it is only our labour that determine the wealth of nations, and also yourself. The book use a lot of illustrations to show how the division of labour could increase the production and it is on our self-interest to make exchange that give rise to division of labour, the theme that has mentioned by other reviewers and books. You should have read a lot of quotations from the book but you could not understand fully the central theme of the book by just few sentences. Take time to read the book and I believe that this book could increase your "labour", or wealth in other words.
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Summary: Perhaps the most lucid "social" writing ever
Review: Based on his previous writings on human behaviour, Adam Smith shows, systematically and consistently, how a market-based economic system promotes general welfare through the sole maximisation of individual outcomes. This book is a true masterpiece and laid the foundations for modern economic analysis. Though later criticised by many, Smith remains one of the most lucid thinkers on capitalism, despite the fact that he is permanently underestimated in the face of people like Marx. 222 years after its original publication, it maintains its powerful insights. A must read for anyone who refuses to be misled anti-market propaganda, whose results we so dreadfully witnessed throughout the 20th century.
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Summary: The Foundation of Economics
Review: Being called "the father of economics" is not without reason. Adam Smith demonstrated the essential principles in economics in his all-time classic "The Wealth of Nations" -- a book that changes the history of economic theory development. Read this book and you'll see the wisdom of this great old thinker, and you'll discover that economics is MUCH more than just "supply and demand". At the practical level, ask youself questions like "what is the real meaning of money?" and find answers in the book.
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Summary: Smith for Socialists
Review: Buy the Liberty Fund Glasgow edition instead of this. This, the Modern Library edition, contains an introduction and footnotes that essentially amount to Adam Smith as interpreted by 20th century socialists -- placing Smith and Karl Marx at the same level in the pantheon of social thinkers. (One can imagine that the Modern Library may continue the trend and subsequently publish an edition of the Federalist Papers in which Madison is compared with Pol Pot.)
If you wish to understand Smith, avoid this edition. If, however you want to gain a muddled perspective on The Wealth of Nations, go no further.
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Summary: A great book of economic development - the first one!
Review: For a third world citizen, like me, this book seems to be written a couple years ago. Their topics are present in the political agenda of our governments right today, and after all other reviewers have written, better than I would do so, i should add four key points:
- With no proper political institutions there is no possibility of creating wealth (it reminds me sad examples from today...Argentina?). Smith thinks it is very important having economic liberties, besides independent magistrates, and a national state committed to enforce the contracts privates sign up to make transactions when some party doesn't want to comply them.
- Under the right framework of political institutions is posible to have private interests and public interest converging on the same "bargain zone". Under Smith's point of view is the mercantilism, as a policy of state, policy that picks up the winners since the desk of politicians instead of from the shops of every-day industry and parsimony of workers and entrepreuners what creates the conflict (even though he makes some exceptions, like the Navigation Act, but he regards the need of this monopoly of english navy by national security reasons only).
- After the short-run adjustments, the income distribution matters, that are so important for politicians, should be resolved by the market and the entrepreuners whom, by searching opportunities to make more profits, will make converging the prices of land, labour and goods.
- The accumulation of capital is the process that lowers interest rates, expands the supply of loans and suports higher degrees of division of labour in the economy. This process should let people have cheaper goods along the time and improve the wages of workers. The tax system should not stop this process, by "punishing" profits and the letting the remaining sources of rent free (wages, and rent of land). Under Smith's point of view scarcity and poverty are historical and social problems, and their solutions are in history and in social interaction too.There are not worlds beyond every-day reality, as socialists made us to believe some time ago...just trade and division of labour and accumulation of capital, and so on. Let history and people surprise us. They will make the wealth, not the governments. The Smith system is open to history and change, and learnship, and only requires good foundations to secure an historical outcome of wealth. The world of today has institutions that were not in XVIIIth century: global financial institutions and spread trade agreements, that create barriers at some places and open gates at anothers. And now we have new constraints (the environment,..) and new key players (global corporations, ..). But this new scene only makes smaller the room of economic policy choices for latin american governments. At the core of the room which is remaining for them, the Smith's suggestions still have urgent and actual importance. Sad thing to recognize that in XXIst century latin america, we need to read a great book from XVIIIst century to find out solutions.
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Summary: Es un clásico
Review: Hasta la fecha solo habia podido leer traduciones de esta obra, que se considera uno de los pilares fundamentales de las teorias economicas de nuestra sociedad occidental.
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Summary: A must read for any student of economics.
Review: He laid the foundation for the capitalist, free market economy and is one the founders of modern day economics. Lissez-faire and how it is accomplished. It should be required for any upper-level economics class. For this reason I gave it four stars. Not to detract from an excellent book, but you must have good working knowledge of economics before reading it.
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Summary: The Y2K - Modern Library Classics Version
Review: I am reviewing the Modern Library Classics version with an introduction by former labor secretary Robert Reich. To minimize repetition, the differences for this version: This massive book is complete and unabridged (all five books). There is a great added feature in the form of small summary notes in the margin that accompany each paragraph. Adam Smith was a masterful writer of prose and communicates some of the most important economic and philosophical ideas in the history of western civilization. Economic theory never read so beautifully. An interesting choice for an introduction is Robert Reich. He is one of the few intellectuals from the left, and while I disagree with him more often than not, I respect his thought process. He offers his interpretation of Smith and how the ideas found in TWoN fit neatly with his positions. Selective reasoning or not, Reich does offer a nice summary line: "In these times, as when Adam Smith wrote, it is important to remind ourselves of the revolutionary notion at the heart of Smith's opus-that the wealth of a nation is measured not by its accumulated riches, but by the productivity and living standards of all its people." Nicely said and I agree. I just disagree with Reich and his ilk on how the "wealth" of the modern nation is achieved. Adam Smith offers the roadmap, but it is up to us to keep lawmakers in DC or [insert any central government here] from regulating and taxing us to death --relegating Smith's work to the dust bin.
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Summary: Wealth is the product of labor
Review: I appreciate that for most readers, Adam Smith's Wealth of Nations is going to be a deadly dull read, although I think this is a pity. With a little discipline, I think that the erudite reader will take away many enriching (yes, pun intended) lessons from Smith's ground breaking treatise. For me, as a business professional and business student (I have an MBA), the Wealth of Nations was a Damascus Road experience. I think there are several myths about economics that are exploded by a first hand reading of Wealth of Nations. Many supply side economists eagerly tout Smith's "invisible hand" metaphor in advocating deregulated markets, but in my view, Smith took a balanced and integrated approach in analyzing the supply and demand sides of national economy. In the first chapter Smith notes that national wealth is the production of labor. This has dual implications in that production is the creation of supply, but the labor force consumes that supply by trading the resulting wealth. These are two sides to the same coin, & therefore indivisible. Also in the first chapter, Smith notes that increasingly sophisticated economies will employ a division of labor to increase production efficiency, which is another concept that necessarily integrates supply and demand, production and consumption. Smith devotes quite a bit of time lamenting governmental intrusion into economics by way of regulation. However, he does not condemn government regulation per se, but make very specific criticisms against those state regulatory polices that tend to create monopolies. None of his comments are strictly political in nature. Smith's analysis is purely based on economics & the efficient allocation of capital. He views the enemy not as the King's ministers, but rather the monopolies that were so prevalent during the 18th century mercantile system. On a related note, I think it is clear that Smith would be horrified by the military centric nature of many post-industrial economies today. He notes that a standing army is a drain on national wealth. Essentially the state is paying workers not to work, but rather to stand ready to fight. I suspect that Smith would view large state defense budgets as being most closely akin to a transfer payment made by a welfare state. For those who will scream invective at me for saying this, please remember that the largest item on any defense budget by far, is payroll. Finally, as an amateur historian, I enjoyed the brief glimpse into what life was like in the 18th century Empire from an economist's perspective. Various parts of his book review social welfare systems of his day, as well as international banking, political economy, agrarian systems, and life in general.
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