A riqueza das nacións: Diferenzas entre revisións

No libro V: Trata das finanzas públicas e expón as súas ideas sobre as partidas de gastos públicos que considera lexítimas dacordo ca súa opinión xeral das funcions do goberno. O seu estudo da forma de recaudar os ingresos públicos constitúe o punto de partida de toda a teoría liberal da tributación.

 

O libro é de cando en cando descrito como unha crítica o [[Mercantilismo|mercantilismo]] e a síntese do emerxente pensamento económico dos tempos de Smith. Especificamente, a ''Riqueza das Nacións'' ataca, entre outras cousas, dúas maiores doctrinas do mercantilismo:

# A idea de que o [[Proteccionismo|proteccionismo]] serve os intereses económicos da nación (incluso para calquera propósito), e

:....prefirindo a axuda do domestico á industria extranxeira, pensa soamente na súa propia seguridade, e dirixindo a industria dun xeito tal como o seu produto poida acadar o valor más alto, pensa soamente no seu propio beneficio, e está nesto, como noutros moitos casos, conducidos por unha man invisible para acadar un fin que no foi nunca a sua intención. (Libro 4, Capítulo 2)

 

[[Meritocracia]] é un tema moi forte no traballo. Máis concretamente, Smith salienta a importancia crítica de permitir ós indivíduos levar a cabo ó que os seus "talentos outorgados por deus" lles permita acadar, sen interferenza de forzas externas na busca de beneficios socias. Smith razoa que esas forzas externas levan a ineficiencia na división do traballo, e leva a un retraso xeral no progreso.

 

Smith does not solve the riddle in ''The Wealth of Nations,'' but he points it out as an important question remaining to be answered in the field of economics. He does attempt to give a solution by adopting the labor theory: he concludes that diamonds are worth more than water because of their rarity, and because great effort is required to mine and cut them. However, Smith admits that even this solution is unsatisfactory because it does not sufficiently describe why diamonds are worth more than, say, emeralds (which require even more labour to mine, and are considerably rarer), or why a large, easily mined diamond is worth more than a small, difficult-to-spot one.

 

''The Wealth of Nations'' was published in 1776, during [[The Age of Enlightenment]]. It influenced not only authors and economists, but governments and organizations. For example, [[Alexander Hamilton]] was influenced in part by ''The Wealth of Nations'' to write his ''[[Report on Manufactures]]'', in which he argued against many of Smith's policies. Interestingly, Hamilton based much of this report on the ideas of [[Jean-Baptiste Colbert]], and it was, in part, to Colbert's ideas that Smith wished to respond with ''The Wealth of Nations.''

 

Irrespective of historical influence, however, ''The Wealth of Nations'' represented a clear leap forward in the field of economics, similar to Sir [[Isaac Newton]]'s ''[[Philosophiae Naturalis Principia Mathematica|Principia Mathematica]]'' for [[physics]] or [[Antoine Lavoisier]]'s ''Traité Élémentaire de Chimie'' for [[chemistry]].

 

Alguns comentarios do traballo conteñen [[anacronismos]]. Esto é o resultado de le-la obra pensando coma se fose escrita hoxe. O libro foi escrito en [[Inglés Moderno]], pero hai alguns puntos para considerar:

* O termo ''[[económico]]'' aínda non estaba en uso.

* A ''[[Corporación Feudal]]'' citada por Smith foi moi diferente das [[Corporación|corporacións modernas]].

 

Five editions of ''The Wealth of Nations'' were published during Smith's lifetime: in [[1776]], [[1778]], [[1784]], [[1786]], and [[1789]]. Numerous editions appeared after Smith's death in [[1790]]. To better understand the evolution of the work under Smith's hand, a team led by [[Edwin Cannan]] collated the first five editions. The differences were published along with an edited fifth edition in [[1904]] (see ''An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations,'' London: Methuen and Co., Ltd., ed. Edwin Cannan, 1904. Fifth edition.) They found minor but numerous differences (including the addition of many footnotes) between the first and the second editions, both of which were published in two volumes. The differences between the second and third editions, however, are major: In [[1784]], Smith annexed these first two editions with the publication of ''Additions and Corrections to the First and Second Editions of Dr. Adam Smith’s Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations,'' and he also had published the now three volume third edition of the ''Wealth of Nations'' which incorporated ''Additions and Corrections'' and, for the first time, an index. Among other things, the ''Additions and Corrections'' included entirely new sections. The fourth edition published in 1786 had only slight differences with the third edition, and Smith himself says in the ''Advertisement'' at the beginning of the book, "I have made no alterations of any kind." Finally, Cannan notes only trivial differences between the fourth and fifth editions — a set of misprints being removed from the fourth, and a different set of misprints being introduced into the fifth.

 

* [[Socialismo]]

 

{{Wikisource|The Wealth of Nations}}

* [http://metalibri.incubadora.fapesp.br/portal/authors/AnInquiryIntoTheNatureAndCausesOfTheWealthOfNations '''Wealth of Nations'''] at MetaLibri Digital Library (PDF eBook)