Adam Smith – Wealth of Nations book review

In a nutshell (618 pages), this book is often referred to as the birth of modern economics. A quick search online will do a lot to settle whether that is true. It doesn’t matter, because the book is brilliant. The book clearly and without presumption lays out the guiding principles that do in fact make nations wealthy (and consequently companies and people).

What I got out of it

With all the talk of “the Economy” and economic growth and strange economic happenings in the news all the time this book lays the groundwork to really understand much better the massive and connected world we live in. This book is unto itself a masterclass in Economics.

What was difficult

The book is huge. It was written by a very academic man a long time ago. This makes it hard to read. If you’re not very interested in the topics discussed I don’t see how you can get through it.

Recommendation

Read the index. If you want clear and concise explanations of how these things operate in the world, read at least those sections. If a fair bit of the index is interesting to you, you will find the whole book to be worthwhile. Try and find a copy with annotations, it’s an easy way to skim through and get the high-level points of the book. You can always dive into the text for more (and I bet you will).