The dominant economic ideology of Smith's Day was called mercantilism. How these goods were produced, not only the physical inputs, but the human motivation, wasn't thought of as particularly relevant. Adam Smith changed that with The Wealth of Nations.
How did an affable 18th-century “moral philosopher” become the patron saint of cutthroat capitalism? Does “the invisible hand” mean what everyone thinks it does? We travel to Smith’s hometown in Scotland to uncover the man behind the myth. (Part 1 of a series.)