Adam Smith
10
4.2
- proper noun
- /ˈædəm smɪθ/
- A market economy, as Adam Smith pointed out, will exhibit more specialization and therefore more productivity the larger the market.
- Adam Smith's theory
Examples
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In this "system of natural liberty," as Adam Smith (1776, 1937, p. 651) called it, the private market system generates rational prices and coordinates individual plans.
Academic text (1991) -
Adam Smith taught us that the wealth of nations rested on three pillars: labor, capital, and natural resources.
Academic text (1997) -
Adam Smith said: "The best result comes... "...from everyone in the group doing what's best for himself."
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Recall the lessons of Adam Smith... ...the father of modern economics.
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Schumpeter begins by contrasting the theoretical universe of the classical economists, beginning with Adam Smith, with the reality of modern industrial enterprise.
Academic text (1991) -
Adam Smith is recognized as the Adam Smith of modern economics for his influential work on free trade.
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The principles of economics that Adam Smith outlined have shaped the way we understand markets today.
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In his book 'The Wealth of Nations', Adam Smith argued that individual self-interest leads to economic prosperity.
Surface Forms
Morphology
Adam + Smith
This is a proper name referring to a specific historical person; the sense 'Scottish economist and author of The Wealth of Nations' cannot be derived from the literal words 'Adam' and 'Smith'. Proper names are referential and require cultural or world-knowledge rather than compositional word knowledge, so a B1 learner who only knows the constituents would not understand the MWE's meaning.
Etymology
Adam Smith was a Scottish thinker who wrote 'The Wealth of Nations' and used the image of an 'invisible hand' to show how people chasing their own gain can help the whole market. That's why his name now stands for ideas about free markets and modern economics.