Civilization / Society, Economy & Law

Economics

Adam Smith's 'Wealth of Nations' (1776) explains markets, division of labor and prices as a system: economics becomes a science.

Smith showed how specialization and competition create wealth; Ricardo (1817) established the gains from foreign trade, Marx criticized capitalism, and Keynes (1936) made business cycles and public spending a subject of macroeconomics. Today's economic policy, central banks and national accounts (GDP since the 1930s-40s, Kuznets) build on this.