The Philosophers of Industrialization
by Chloe Song
1. Adam Smith
1.1. A professor at the University of Glasgow, Scotland
1.2. Defended the idea of a free economy, or free markets, in his 1776 book The Wealth of Nations.
1.3. According to Smith, economic liberty guaranteed economic progress.
1.4. As a result, government should not interfere. Smith’s arguments rested on what he called the three natural laws of economics:
2. Three natural laws of economics
2.1. 1. the law of self-interest—People work for their own good.
2.2. 2. the law of competition—Competition forces people to make a better product.
2.3. the law of supply and demand—Enough goods would be produced at the lowest possible price to meet demand in a market economy.
3. Laissez faire
3.1. The economic policy of letting owners of industry and business set working conditions without interference.
3.2. This policy favors a free market unregulated by the government.
3.3. French for “let do,” and by extension, “let people do as they please.”
3.4. Laissez-faire economics stemmed from French economic philosophers of the Enlightenment.
4. Utilitarianism
