3. Adam Smith (1723-1790)

[nintendo007]

omg Adam smith is in my top 10 for influential people of history

[xXxoSNOWoxXx]

Wow, I just found myself a great youtube channel. Great lectures!

More courses and lectures without the cost of tuition! Yay!

[TheWinters1979]

thanks for uploading this...

[WSWarthog]

There is an awful sound round about the 4:30 mark

[Dullthud007]

Loved this. We live in a world of over simplified choices that have little effect on the things that matter. And I love the fact that one of the people often held as a totem for this state of affairs was actually far more nuanced and complex in his appraisal of these matters than 'they'd' have you believe. I also feel an idiot for never giving more weight to the actually fairly obvious historical context to the work.

[SuperBenzid]

I more consider Adam Smiths teaching as an instrument for forces of greed that already existed rather then actually changing anything it just gave permission to forces already in existence. This was an interesting speech no the less.

[BlueFrog83]

This video inspired me to read the wealth of nations. Its like 700 pages...but its a really good book. Its a great mix of history, sociology and economics. And their aint so much math in it:)

He was truly a great thinker. Read it.

[bakijani]

CAN'T THANK YOU ENOUGH FOR UPLOADING THIS. A KENYAN MIND HAS BEEN ENRICHED THOROUGHLY TODAY

[AbleTheSpaceMonkey]

Odd that a historian should describe the Irish potato famine as the last great famine in European history (40 minutes in). I can only assume that the Donets Basin is not included in his Europe, or that the Holodomor was a hoax?.

Did not Turgot propose the same course for national wealth at an earlier date?. I enjoyed this lecture. For a cracking overview of classical liberal thought - to which Smith contributed- try listening to (or reading) Ralph Raico, on youtube or at mises.org.

[fitw]

adam smith has absent minded mind, he was the best thinker ever in philosophy , because of his accurate explanation about human natural behavior and emotion. his wealth of nation book are entirely based on the theory of moral sentiment, which revolved around human needs and behavior.

[dleiros]

Great stuff, thank you for uploading this professor!

[centurion180ad]

Excellent !!!!!

Thank you professor.

While Doctor Adam Smith imported the concept of Division of Labor, he refined it to a “T” with his addition of his theory of Maximization of Comparative Advantage.

[darabaig]

nice lecture

[darabaig]

very interesting lecture...this lecture is compendium about adam smith.

[brainlife]

How many in that class were sick. How inconsiderate to cough the entire class.

Great lecture though...

[aksmar18]

el viejito, el viejito, el viejito!

[corsarioriddim]

Very interesting. Never realised the full scope of Adam Smith. Food for thought. Thanks for posting and sharing your considerable knowledge.

[tqlblows]

I'm torn by this lecturer, at first I love the information, but at second, I think the presentation is drab. I am struggling to not fall asleep. Is there ANY class participation or is Alan just trying to transfer facts from his brain to the students? If the latter, just write down the info and send an email... no need for a class.

[tqlblows]

@tqlblows as example, my favorite part of this lecture is the break when Alan is in dialogue with the class... I learned something and was engaged.

[zeno57]

Great vid..... How can Americans who need 10$ to 20$ per hour to live compete with Chineese workers who make 33 cents per hr.? This is the problem that is causing the downfall of western civilization.

[hometubing]

To the people who were in that room for that lecture: You are very lucky to receive what in my opinion is the best summary of what was one of the greatest philosophers in the history of mankind.

To the lecturer: bravo. Thank you. I believe in the accuracy of your summary. I hope to find out your name and would love to discuss Adam Smith with you and plan to read about all the people you mentioned.

To anyone else: watch this video.

[ayabaya]

@hometubing

Thanks. I'm glad you liked it. I agree. AS was not only the founder of modern economics, but an immensely wise and broad philosopher. If you go to my website (google 'Alan Macfarlane') and look under 'Ebooks' on the front, you will find my short book (a free downloadable pdf) on him, which you might enjoy. Best wishes and thanks again, Alan

[Hilrond]

This guy taught my mum! and that was 30-35 years ago =d apparently he was very attractive XD

[Hilrond]

terrible shame about the sound quality its infuriating

[goku1986007]

Besides being a socialist, Adam Smith is an author that i respect too much.

Some of his ideas have been proven wrong, and some others were deliberately changed, distorted and used for personal acquisition of power and dominance.

The problem is mankind, who always needs more, and who hurts it´s brothers on the way to his personal glory.

Even so capitalism has become unsustainable, and his collapse becomes inevitable, maybe man is unustainable for earth, hope we find it beter next time...

[timetochilli]

@goku1986007 he believed in equality thats the reason he advocated markets

[goku1986007]

@timetochilli Yes, equality, peace and respect before money, profit and power, something we don´t see with current capitalist system.

[timetochilli]

@goku1986007 yeo dats the current system dont get me wrong im with you im a anarchist socialists or in real terms a classical liberal...but try not to associate adam smith with the current system read the well of nations dont listen to lecturers in cambridge there at cambridge for a reason thje reason is they are obdient follow, orders and are self propagandised they actually believe their own lies

[goku1986007]

@timetochilli Yes, that fact that we´re socialist doesn´t mean we can´t read this man who was really a genious, by the way, do you know a link for the wealth of nations?

I haven´t found it on google.

[goku1986007]

@timetochilli Ok nevermind, i found the Spanish version f the wealth on nations, it´s only 56 pages, i´ll read it in some days..

[timetochilli]

@goku1986007 read the full version trust me

[Zenome]

Abolish God!!! Amen to that brotha! Wait Amen? Lets rephrase that, Fuck God to that brotha!

[JinxOz]

This video should not be a substitute to Adam Smith's works. I am reading The Wealth of Nations, it's going to take a while to finish, but I am enjoying it so far.

[yutuboslaven]

adam smith and the invisible hand of theft

[Robohump]

@yutuboslaven Uhhh... what?

[yutuboslaven]

@Robohump

yeah the system works only for those who have higher interest earnings then interest costs (the upper 10%).

only semi-educated opportunists who are trained to perpetuate this system can believe in the adam smith's nonsense.

[Robohump]

@yutuboslaven His nonsense has allowed for the greatest increase in the standard of living in all of human history. That's my kinda nonsense!

[yutuboslaven]

@Robohump you're wrong.

adam smith is the prime cause why the american fought for the indenpendence from the british empire. adam smith and malthus are the philosophers of the british empire and both have caused more misery then hilter.

his nonsense has only increased the living standard of the ruling banking oligharchy and the european nobility.

the increase of the living standard in USA happend in the republic with lincoln:

watch?v=TS-6nk-SCh4

watch?v=RgcdRCWEt4Q

enjoy, bye!

[GrandOldPete]

@yutuboslaven Now shut up and learn some history. The Wealth of Nations was publishd THE SAME YEAR as the Deaclasration of Independence. As you may know the American Revolution has already started then.

[timetochilli]

@Robohump adam smiths economy has never been pursuited just educate yourself

[Andy17]

im sorry...kirkaddy burg school? kirkcaly(kawwdie) burgh (bura) school? and this is cambridge :/

[moedemama]

i watched a speech by noam chonmsky and he only mentiones adam smith and talks about his ideas for 5 minutes, and i got more from just that than the whole hour i listen to this...

[moedemama]

i really didnt think this was as informative as an hour of listening could be.. now dont get me wrong, im not here to bash, i looked at 4 parts of his lectures and i think im gonna stop, as dont really learn anything sorry...

[MatteNoob]

Great lecture, you rock badly over my poor lecturer. Now I like learning about this subject. Thank you

[ElTresDeMayo1808]

Thumbs up if you just been educated :)

[SuperMregg]

Adam Smith : práctico. Ultra.

[carrollcrescent]

interesting that he didn't mention Adam Smith's views on banking....

[Rapoirier]

Laissez-Faire ftw.

[Kman2025]

Smith wasn't really an advocate of Laissez-faire. I know it's commonly reported that he was, but most academics who have studied his texts agree that whilst certain quotes from WN, when viewed alone, suggest an advocation of Laissez-faire, when one looks at his writings as a whole it is really not the case.

Take a look at Jacob Viner's seminal article "Adam Smith & laissez faire" for more info on that.

P.S I'm aware your comment was just a light hearted joke..but oh well.

[adamazin08]

my name is Adam Smith lol

[sirellyn]

No you shouldn't. You should let the companies that deal with such risky ventures fail.

1923 had a worse crash than 1930 btw. But it wasn't even a blip because there was no government intervention.

The Fed was chiefly responsible for all of those crashes. It lowered interest rates far below what the market would place them at. With cheap money there was a lot of mal investment. (Lets invest in X even though it may not be good.) Like derivatives, securities etc.

The Fed caused them all.

[thib565]

Lol not even able to quote the theory of the invinsible hand at the beginning. This is the level of Cambridge ?????????

[redshadowsofa]

Yeah, I've was struck by that as well. The invisible hand is basically High School-curriculum.

[thib565]

Yeah exactly, i learned simth's theories in my second year of highschool on the 3 years we have in France.

[ucokcouk]

@thib565 It's an introductory lecture. I find it a little bizarre that such content is taught in French high schools. In England it would be expected for a student to follow such material through their own interest. High school education here is about core subjects and the development of cognitive and conceptual skills. Of course being French you can probably do that to same the degree as us small minded Englsih people, whilst maintaining such a broad curriculum: Mais bien sûr

[thib565]

@ucokcouk Sry if you feel offended, that was not my intention but i can clearly say to you that Adam Smith is taught in french high scools, just took my old book from a year ago, since i graduated last year and we had Smith, Ricardo, Tocqueville, Marx, Shumpeter, Weber, Durkheim. We did 3 hours to 4 hours on each + you talk about some of them in philosophy and history. Cant talk about english schools and i dont care but in here the programs are huge.

[ucokcouk]

@thib565 lol sorry I was just teasing.. I was trying to illustrate the point that when you extend the breadth of a curriculum you reduce the capacity for detailed analysis. As a teacher myself I would say his approach is to start from basic principals so he can bring all people on board and then try to engage their minds on the subject and inspire them to study further, very intelligent in my view. I think Marx's theories are more applicable than he proposes though.

[Kman2025]

Whilst I agree this was a bit surprising, the course is Social Anthropology, so unless any of these students took economics they probably wouldn't have heard of the invisible hand within their schools.

[philosophicalleo405]

Of Public Debts......Stegnographia,

Less of an enquiry.... more of a textbook?

I like this lecturer.

[waketheoblivious]

microeconomics, macroeconomics

microevolution, macroevolution

"Invisible hand" - "missing link"

Adam Smith, Father of Economic Theory, used the term "invisible hand". Had he chose to use the term "God", we would all likely be asking, who is Adam Smith, while the Laws of Supply & Demand and God would still exist. There is only one choice a human makes their entire life that is not subject to the Principle of Self Interest. Once that choice is made, it is repeated with prior knowledge.

[PozsonyiFarkas]

It is not his fault, and not his idea's fault, that is has been derailed.He never planned to concentrate such an economic power and wealth in one hand.His concept of market is totally against it!!!

I suspect, that the nature of credit money system, this kind of banking system, monopolies, and this socail darwinistic kind of race is responsible for derailing his dreams.

[PozsonyiFarkas]

*the organisms, that proliferate.

[PozsonyiFarkas]

*their own investment...sry for the failure.

[Questfortruth86]

So ilth=socialism. I get it.

[lysis28]

"You minds are, in a Lockeian sense, a tabula rasa, an empty palate on which I can draw upon; well, that's a great honour and privilege."

Such a gracious lecturer, I think, well worth emulating.

[shalippylippylongoi]

was it adam smith who said that the government was first introduced to protect the rich minority from the poorer majority?

[InterZlatan8]

it seems a contradiction, that he never mentions workers in this lecture. credits for creating wealth goes to middle/upper-class capitalists.

Smith used (like Marx) the Labour Theory of Value. Wich means that workers are creating values, wich must be bought and sold on the market. workers receive wages so they too can buy commodities, capitalists receive surplus to invest more money (capital) and their profit. thus creating more capital in the world.

So it's always workers who create wealth

[tc169]

The ragged-trousered philanthropists, if you will

[PozsonyiFarkas]

And their surplus, which they invest should be given someway to blue, or white collar workers to help them starting their investment...They could invest to the enterprise of the capitalist, they have worked for as well....so the dream of Smith is one step closer to realisation.

[g8086]

Economists spend one half of their lives "predicting" the future and the other half explaining why their prediction never happened...

[atb1593]

Abi sen ne anlatmaya calisiyorsun uykumu getirdin!

[HailRasec]

The Free market eventually creates monopolies that centralize power.

[DarcPrynce]

"...monopolies that centralize power" You mean like government? No private industry has any real power compared to the power of government. There is no greater monopoly than a small group of politicians dictating to everyone what they can and cannot buy, how much they can own, who gets to supply them with what they need, and how much those goods and services will cost. Stateism is the most oppressive economic force known to humanity.

[leobody]

right on

[Hopeful71]

"No private industry has any real power compared to the power of government."

Yet in a republic the minority has some voice in government but NO voice against a libertarian oppressive monopoly or oligopoly.

Reasonable regulation is not oppressive and can protect the working & middle class from coercive force & exploitation

There is a middle ground between fascism & libertarian anarchy. The libertarian utopia is a fantasy so start being pragmatic.

[InterZlatan8]

What Smith did was theorizing a Utopian Capitalist system, wich then should have

brought peace, equality and wealth to everybody. Now everyone knows today, that we never have seen such a world.

We had wars, overproduction-crises, imperialism, tax-breaks for the biggest companies, the bonus-system, a failing credit-system, wage-stagnation for 25 years, privatization of public services...

The only ones who still believe in it, are the hardcore Neo-Liberals

[Entropy56]

All of which were caused by government interventionism.

[InterZlatan8]

No, governments around the world intervene, because they see some of the failings of Capitalism.

Smith was a Utopian thinker, his model is not for the benefit of all, that's why governments have to intervene.

[Entropy56]

No; governments intervene because they are meddlers who like to control things. They need jobs and can't produce anything themselves so they get tax money to support them.

[PozsonyiFarkas]

Not so utophian at all.

I'm totally against the neolibs, i proudly hate Milton Greedman like burning Hell, but i belive the doctrines of Smith.There is no problem with his idea.He was a genious, and clearly deserve his place among all those greatnesses, the professor have mentioned.

[lordennis01]

I think if you read it carefully, you will see that there are problems with his theories. He actually spoke about them. Problems like "merchants" manipulating policies for their own benefits and so on. I think one has to analyze him, or any other philosopher, from his time, in which case his theories for freedom would be justified.

[adamfarkas11]

@lordennis01

You are totally right. We need the necessary legal regulation, and the well prepared administration of course, (just the necessary, nothing moore). But I think that on his own, its unable to prevent this anomally. Until one single "merchant" has got such a significant infulence due his own wealth, law is fucked up....

Not only supply & demand should have been in balance, instaead the positions and powers of the market as well.

[adamfarkas11]

@adamfarkas11

So you can' t use the law, but radically new economical theories, should help.

S. Gesell, David Korten, and the opinion of Ron Paul about the FED is the right way i guess. Speculators, like that disgusting jew George "Schwartz" aka. Soros and this banking system are living from you, not for you...

[kubaniski]

what is wrong with milton freedman?

[PozsonyiFarkas]

Not in case, the property rights of this monopolies are decentralised, and their grovth is controlled by the gov.

The main role is the govt. to maintaine the healthy race, and stop the birth of monopolies...

[PozsonyiFarkas]

*growth sry.

So just like a the organisms, that proliferates..At a decent limit fission is necessary.

[leobody]

Free Market works perfectly in the long term!

[g8086]

Thats's not true, in fact the actual crisis is direct consequence of Smith's theories. Without close control, the market can literally kill itself

[leobody]

well, and thats a hell of an argument, fuckin keynesian

[g8086]

That's not keynesian, it's just plain common sense...

[leobody]

its even worse then.. commom sense aint no science .. otherwise people wouldnt had to study economics

[OMikrosIroas]

People do not instinctly possess common sense. Rationality is NOT something inherent. Ancient Greeks TAUGHT themselves to reason. It was a subject. From there maths, science and etc evolved so now you don't really study common sense but in a weird sense you do. Bottom line: humans ain't rational.

[leobody]

k, but thats a diferent concept.. im talking about the common sense that you develop while aging and experiencing new things. That knowledge, while it provides some base to make decisions, is far from scientific knowledge and, therefore, should be avoided in complex discussions!

[Malthus0]

Depends what you mean by rational. In economics rationality has a very basic meaning. It simply means that people act in a purposeful way to achieve ends. This definition makes no normative judgement on those ends. So for example the murderer and the suicide are both considered rational if they use the best known and available tools to achieve their purpose. This difference in meaning from the everyday usage has caused much confusion.

[theolcoyote]

i have to admit Smith is a great source of confusion for me.

what do you have to say to the opinion that Smith believed in equality of opportunity as a variable in the idea of free market...

there seems to me so much more in the wealth of nations and in moral sentiment than just the invisible hand... certain passages in both books seem to allude to a belief that government should intervene in cases of extreme inequality in some groups, otherwise the market theory doesn't work.

thoughts?

[lordennis01]

First of all "The Wealth of Nations" is not confusing, its rather straight forward.

Secondly I don't know what exactly you mean by equality of opportunity as a variable. If I understood you correctly, Adam Smith said something like this: The man is not rich because he has a coach, but rather because he has a coach because he is rich. So, no, not everyone has equal opportunity, however he advocated under perfect liberty, capitalism will bring equality.

[PozsonyiFarkas]

Not equality, but equity, and proportional share of goods.:)

/Speaking about that one we read about in Wealth of Nations, not the shit, we have today./

[lordennis01]

Thirdly, I have not read Moral sentiments, however reading "The Wealth of Nations" I don't recall him stating that governments should intervene, only on a minimal bases on occasion like maintaining order etc. Ofcourse he did not want to abolish government, to my knowledge, just a reduced role in what they were embelishing on at the time (i.e. tarrifs, gold restrictions etc)

[PozsonyiFarkas]

Thats right.

I'd consider him rather an ordo libertanian, (no problem with, healthy way of thinking) than anarchist, and neolibertanian piece of fuck...

[lordennis01]

If you can give me the page number where you found the second claim, I'll be more than happy to look it up.

[cambo61]

Thanks for helping put Smith in context. No offense to your audience, but I would have had 100 questions about the WofN for you. It's sad they had access to an authority on the subject and were quiet through much of it.

[korrahl]

Thanks, you are a great teacher!

[therieyashow]

i'm just curious about what europe was like during his lifetime - i mean it somehow influenced his views on things especially economics. was there famine? was there already paper currency? was monarchy still strong? is this the time of industrialization?

[a0eoj]

thanks for posting this video

[MayaSam]

There's a mistake in headline! In the date of birth(

[18512363]

VERY GOOD.

[nuscholar1979]

Fabulous lecture. And who says Youtube is all about prairie dogs and skateboarding bulldogs!

[godbac51]

thanx for posting that lecture :) it was great

[ourearthhome]

Chinese landlords skimmed off the surplus of production above the rent they charged for land that they did not produce. They obviously did not earn their incomes unlike labor that did earn its income through efforts expended. Of course landlords everywhere do the same. Landlords reap an unearned income while labor and capital (which is not land) earn their incomes. Landlords are the predators in the more civilized cultures of labor and capital which have to cooperate to produce wealth.

[bluesrichard]

Such a great point about wealth, and what he meant by it!

[justinjwr]

Awesome. The mic hissing every few minutes is slightly annoying though..