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Part 1/4
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CHAPTERS
0:06 – The Wealth of Nations
6:58 – BOOK I.
26:56 – CHAPTER II.
36:01 – CHAPTER III.
46:28 – CHAPTER IV.
01:01:29 – CHAPTER V.
01:20:42 – In the progress of industry, commercial nations have found it convenient
01:39:39 – CHAPTER VI.
01:55:11 – CHAPTER VII.
02:14:23 – CHAPTER VIII.
02:42:38 – The real recompence of labour, the real quantity of the necessaries and
03:03:14 – CHAPTER IX.
03:26:42 – CHAPTER X.
03:49:26 – The lottery of the sea is not altogether so disadvantageous as that of the
04:11:29 – PART II., Inequalities occasioned by the Policy of Europe.
04:28:36 – The inhabitants of a town being collected into one place, can easily
04:48:50 – Thirdly, the policy of Europe, by obstructing the free circulation of
05:08:14 – CHAPTER XI.
05:48:20 – PART II., Of the Produce of Land, which sometimes does, and sometimes
06:22:57 – First Period., In 1350, and for some time before, the average price
06:59:44 – Third Period., Between 1630 and 1640, or about 1636, the effect of
07:41:25 – _Variations in the Proportion between the respective Values of Gold and
07:55:33 – _Different Effects of the Progress of Improvement upon three different
08:23:30 – Third Sort., The third and last sort of rude produce, of which the
08:46:17 – Conclusion of the Digression concerning the Variations in the Value of
08:59:44 – BOOK II.
09:23:30 – CHAPTER II.
10:00:49 – The facility of discounting bills of exchange, it may be thought, indeed,
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ABOUT THIS WORK
Before the industrial revolution, before the stock exchange, before the modern state, there was a single, seismic idea that shattered the old world order. You are holding the intellectual key that unlocked the modern age. Adam Smith’s *The Wealth of Nations* is not merely a book; it is the thunderclap that silenced the mercantilists and set the engine of human prosperity in motion. This is the definitive free audiobook experience for anyone seeking to understand the invisible forces that drive wealth, power, and innovation. As a cornerstone of classic literature and the Scottish Enlightenment, this public domain masterwork remains as urgent and provocative today as it was in 1776.
Imagine a world where the butcher, the brewer, and the baker do not serve you out of benevolence, but out of a rational, powerful self-interest that accidentally builds a thriving society. Smith, the “father of economics,” crafts a narrative that reads like a philosophical thriller. He takes you from the intimate, rhythmic clatter of a pin factory to the vast, sprawling empires of the East India Company. His prose is a masterclass in clarity, blending the precision of a legal brief with the vividness of a travelogue. You will meet the laborer, the merchant, and the sovereign, not as abstract concepts, but as living agents caught in a web of human desire and institutional constraint.
This is the era of political economy, where the “invisible hand” first grasps the reins of history. Smith argues that the true measure of a nation’s wealth is not the gold in its vaults, but the annual flow of goods and services produced by the skill and dexterity of its people. He dismantles the myth of zero-sum competition, revealing a world where free exchange and division of labor create a “universal opulence” that benefits even the poorest ranks. His warnings against monopoly and state overreach are sharp, incisive, and terrifyingly relevant to our current moment.
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CREATED BY
📖 Author: Adam Smith
📅 First published: 1776
🎭 Genre: 18th Century, Enlightenment, Classical Economics, Political Economy, Economic History, Philosophy
🌐 Language: English
🎧 Version: Unabridged, Full / Complete
📝 Scrolling text included (read-along format)
🎙️ Narration: LibriVox volunteer recording by Stephen Escalera, https://librivox.org/the-wealth-of-nations-book-1-by-adam-smith/
📚 Text: Project Gutenberg, https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/3300
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