Book by
Adam Smith (
[describe amz here], also available
online).
"This Scottish economist was the most influential thinker in the history of capitalist economics, a fact that is all the more remarkable in that he was writing during the earliest phases of the industrial revolution. He is still cited as in support of arguments for an unregulated economy: the less government interferes with business the more prosperous the nation will be, runs this theory. Although not an absolutist (he did recognize that some tariffs were necessary), he generally opposed restrictions on international trade. These arguments have been repeated in recent years in the U.S. in regard to such Japanese imports as automobiles and in the context of debates over the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) and the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade." (via
www.wsu.edu:8080/~wldciv/world_civ_reader/world_civ_reader_2/adam_smith.html")