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A review by ecs_etera
The Wealth of Nations: Books I-III by Adam Smith
3.0
When I was in my first class of my first semester of undergrad, my macroeconomics professor mentioned this book - followed by "it is completely unreadable, but foundational." He was right. It is a slog, definitely, but has some fun bits.
My way was made a lot easier when I learned that the English called all grains "corn," so Smith is almost never talking about what we call corn during the many, many, many pages he covered discussing the trade of corn. England has never struck me as producers or consumers of corn - or maize, as I suppose they distinguished corn back then.
Smith also mentioned that a man of 10,000 pounds a year would probably support, in England, a thousand families directly. This Jane Austen fan was blown away by that.
My way was made a lot easier when I learned that the English called all grains "corn," so Smith is almost never talking about what we call corn during the many, many, many pages he covered discussing the trade of corn. England has never struck me as producers or consumers of corn - or maize, as I suppose they distinguished corn back then.
Smith also mentioned that a man of 10,000 pounds a year would probably support, in England, a thousand families directly. This Jane Austen fan was blown away by that.