Adam Smith published The Wealth of Nations in 1776. It became a landmark book in the field of economics and remains influential today. It explored the reasons why some nations are wealthy, others are not and why yet more appear to stagnate. Smith’s conclusion was that nations with self-regulating rather than strictly controlled economies continue to prosper despite changes in prices and the availability of goods.

These ideas helped to lay the foundations for modern market economics and the philosophies of figures such as John Stuart Mill.