by Adam Smith

This was Adam Smith's first book, written while he was a professor of moral philosophy at the University of Glasgow. It is in this book that Smith first introduced the concept of an "invisible hand," this time to show why the outwardly selfish rich are moved to help the poor and increase the welfare of society as a whole. Smith shows that the desire for improvement of one's condition, which he says is essential for any human progress, also includes improvement of the condition of others. Among the topics he discusses are prosperity and adversity, justice and beneficence, rewards and punishments, and the nature of benevolence. Smith shows why free markets, with all of their unequal outcomes and income disparities, still do a better job of providing assistance to the truly needy than do government-mandated income redistribution schemes.