Adam Smith's The Wealth of Nations: A modern-day interpretation of an economic classic (Infinite Success Series) [Paperback]

Karen McCreadie (Author)

Book Description

Series: Infinite Success Series | Publication Date: June 12, 2009

Adam Smith's The Wealth of Nations was the first comprehensive treatment of political economy. Published in 1776, The Wealth of Nations was originally released for a very specific audience, the British Parliament, setting clearly defined arguments for peace and co-operation with the troublesome colonials across the Atlantic. Today it is considered one of the most influential books ever written. Here, Smith's text is interpreted for the modern day world of finance, business and economics. Karen McCreadie's interpretation is not a substitute for the original; its purpose is simply to illustrate the timeless nature of Smith's insights by bringing them to life through 21st century examples.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Karen McCreadie is a freelance writer who specialises in ghost-writing books. She formerly worked in marketing and the personal development industry, and recently returned to the UK after 10 years in Australia. Karen has written books for multi-millionaire businessmen, CEOs and international speakers on topics ranging from sales, coaching and wealth creation to the mind/body connection and psychological profiling. She is also the author of Think and Grow Rich by Napoleon Hill and Sun Tzu's The Art of War also in the Infinite Success series.

Product Details

• Paperback: 126 pages
• Publisher: Infinite Ideas (June 12, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1906821038
• ISBN-13: 978-1906821036
• Product Dimensions: 7.6 x 5 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 7 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 1.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #133,262 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

13 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Adam would not be pleased, December 10, 2011

By 

Brian Foreman (Lincoln, NE United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Adam Smith's The Wealth of Nations: A modern-day interpretation of an economic classic (Infinite Success Series) (Paperback)

I happen to be a fan of Adam Smith's work, so I had high hopes when I happened across this "modern interpretation." Adam's writing is tough to read, so anything that makes it more accessible seems like a good thing. But that's not what this is. Even the samples afforded by Amazon's "Look Inside!" feature quickly revealed why I didn't want to read more.

Essentially, the author takes small excerpts from the "Wealth of Nations" and comments briefly on each in a "quick tips for success!" style, seemingly aimed at business people. Unfortunately, she seriously misses his point at times, and seems to be using his words more as a launching pad to promote her own liberal notions.

For example, she cites Adam's statement (as best I can put it from memory) that "The power of exchange is what gives rise to the division of labor, so it (the division of labor) is limited by the extent of the market," a fairly straightforward idea. You're not going to see anyone set up an assembly line to produce a single item for a single customer, in other words. A small marketplace doesn't support that great a division of labor.

But the author interprets this, confusingly, to claim that Adam was proposing the idea that "innovation creates its own marketplace," which is not at all what he was saying. She then goes on to refute what he didn't say, by saying that innovation mainly occurs only in existing industries. I couldn't find a single useful take-away from that discussion.

At some point the author says we should all be driving more electric cars to avert anthropogenic global warming, and that indeed we would be, except that Big Oil is distorting our choices. I expect the author would be shocked to learn that the electricity used by those electric cars is just a storage form of energy originally produced by (wait for it) fossil fuels and nuclear power. (Electric car drivers merely outsource their carbon footprints, in other words.) She has also not considered the problem of heating an all-electric car sufficiently to make it a viable choice for the bitterly cold climates many of us are doomed to live in until the blessed global warming finally arrives.

She even goes on to say that global trade results in a win only for the consumers who get cheap products, not for the workers in less-developed countries who get only low-paying jobs. She seems to miss the point that the low-paying jobs in question must still be more desirable than other choices in those countries, or nobody would take them. It's a win-win presented as a win-lose, presumably because those workers aren't instantly promoted to the same economic level as their customers, an idea that would have been preposterous to Adam---and is to me as well.

Adam's original work is available free on Kindle, incidentally, and although the writing style is hard to read, the principles are still alive and running the world to this day. If you're interested in economics, it's worth the slog.

4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Poor interpretation to push a specific political agenda., December 25, 2011

By 

Beebs - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Adam Smith's The Wealth of Nations (Infinite Success Series) (Kindle Edition)

I found this ebook to be extremely biased and a poor interpretation of Smith's original meaning.

One of the chapters on marketplace innovation spends a lot of time talking about how Smith was wrong! I understand that the author may have certain views on the subject, and respect their right to hold them, but find it inappropriate to be writing a summary on a book whilst contradicting it and claiming it is incorrect.

Even though it is free I would not recommend it.