Adam Smith's The Shape Of The New: Four Big Ideas

When we look back at individuals that are commonly known to have shaped the course of history, we often think of grand names of political leaders and conquerors such as Genghis Khan, Alexander the Great, Napoleon, etc. It is easy to map out the differences they have made in the world because they are usually physical, actually altered geographical borders. However, we often fail to acknowledge the effect that lesser known names have had on the history of mankind, through ideas and socio/political movements. Men such as Adam Smith, Karl Marx and Charles Darwin. These men weren’t great emperors but they did leave great legacies. They left behind ideas that would shape the future political, economic and social systems of the world. The book “The Shape of the New: Four Big Ideas and How They …show more content…
He is often called the “father of economics” for his ground breaking ideas on the role of government in the economy. Through his works, Smith argued in favor of minimizing the role of government in the economy through mechanisms of control such as taxation. Perhaps his most famous idea is the one of the “invisible hand”, which as Chirot and Montgomery point out, appears only 3 times in his writing (20), but is considered the center of his thought. The “invisible hand” of the market refers to the patterns of demand and supply that consumers create with their consumption. These ideas made people realize the power of their actions with things even as simple as buying goods for their home. Smith also believed individuals should have the right to make all decisions affecting their material and moral lives, and that this would create a more fulfilling life and benefit all of society, by making it more “efficient, prosperous and free”. (4). At the time that he released these ideas, the prevailing forms of authority were very much the opposite of what he was