Adam Smith and American independence

The US’ independence and Adam Smith’s Wealth of Nations both complete 250 years in 2026, and hold fascinating insights on the progression of modern economy

- AMOL AGRAWAL

2026 MARKS THE 250th anniversary of American independence and Adam Smith’s Wealth of Nations (WoN). It is really interesting how these two landmark moments in world have shaped our past, present, and future. While WON gave birth to modern economic thinking, the US’ independence established to a modern economy.

Adam Smith’s WoN was truly a tour de force work. Its full wordy title is An Inquiry into Nature and Causes of Wealth of Nations. It suggests that Smith was seeking answers to what determines certain countries to become rich. Smith argued that the wealth of a nation is determined by the productivity of a nation’s resources. The productivity, in turn, depends on factors like the division of labour, capital accumulation, specialisation, freer markets and trade, lesser government, role of institutions, and so on. The initial questions and answers by Smith continues to inspire and influence economists even 250 years later. The Nobel Prize in economics for 2025 was also given to three economists who pointed that it is technology which determines growth of a nation. Most economists (if not all) will argue that their quest to understand economic development eventually takes them to the pages of WoN.