Adam Smith publishes his masterwork, An Inquiry…

Adam Smith publishes his masterwork, An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations, in 1776.

His major thesis is that, save for such limited functions as defense, justice, and certain public works, the state should not interfere with the economic life of a nation.

He suggests that businessmen and merchants (in whom he places no trust to do anything other than conspire together against the public or raise prices) are guided “as if by an invisible hand” to promote the well-being of society.

An exponent of free trade, he champions competition and sees monopoly, private or state-imposed, as a great evil.

By some readings, Smith is seen as blessing the expansion of Britain's opium trade and nourishing British policy to maintain the American colonies as backward producers of raw materials and consumers of finished goods.