The Wealth of Nations: Adam Smith and the Origins of Capitalism

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Adam Smith changed the way that economists thought about the relationship between production and value.
He argued that economic value is based on how much a country can purchase goods with its gold.
Smith believed that this could be a zero sum game, where one country's gain is another country's loss.

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.)