Self-Interest and the Division of Labor

During the summer break, the 15-Minute History podcast team are republishing some of their favorite episodes. This episode and discussion on Adam Smith originally aired on April 18, 2022.

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This season we have been covering individuals who have had a direct effect on history, in a positive or negative way. Adam Smith is one of those. He is called the “father of modern economics” and “the creator of capitalism”. Rather than walk you through a summary of his life, we will attempt to summarize the possible influences that formed three major concepts which exist in his later and final work, the Wealth of Nations, namely the appropriation of Self-Interest, Division of Labor, and the “The Invisible Hand”, thereby showing the linear deduction of each, and how that logic reflects in Adam Smith’s moral philosophy.

With the presentation of these three ideas, it's our hope that you will make your own deductions regarding what kind of man he was and whether his effect on history was a positive one.