# Wealth of Nations at 250 > [!info] Resource details > **Date:** 2026 > **Topics:** #adam-smith #wealth-of-nations #history-of-thought > **Subjects:** #economics #history In 2026 we mark **250 years** since Adam Smith's *An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations*, first published in **1776**. Five "books" over roughly 1,000 pages, written over a decade — and many of its ideas were worked out in Smith's lectures as a professor at the **University of Glasgow**. It set out a new way of thinking about what wealth is, how it is created, and why some nations grow richer than others — and founded economics as a subject. > [!tip] New to Adam Smith? > Start with **[[Adam Smith]]** — who he was, his *two* great books (and why the difference matters), and the ideas in plain terms. ## Watch Professor Craig Smith of the University of Glasgow on *The Wealth of Nations* and its five big ideas, including the **division of labour** and the **invisible hand**.  ## Three themes for 2026 The University of Glasgow frames the anniversary around three questions as relevant now as in 1776: > [!abstract]+ The Nature of Wealth > One of Smith's most revolutionary moves: arguing for a radically different way of conceiving what wealth actually *is* — not gold in a vault, but the goods and labour a nation can command. > 🔗 [The Nature of Wealth](https://www.gla.ac.uk/explore/adamsmith300/wealthofnations250/thenatureofwealth/) > [!abstract]+ The Causes of Wealth > Smith builds a new theory of wealth grounded in the **division of labour**, expanding markets, and the freedom of individuals to exchange, specialise and innovate. > 🔗 [The Causes of Wealth](https://www.gla.ac.uk/explore/adamsmith300/wealthofnations250/thecausesofwealth/) > [!abstract]+ The Politics of Wealth > A "politics of wealth": how political power, national policy and historical institutions shape the distribution and growth of economic and social resources. > 🔗 [The Politics of Wealth](https://www.gla.ac.uk/explore/adamsmith300/wealthofnations250/thepoliticsofwealth/) ## Go further - [University of Glasgow — Wealth of Nations at 250](https://www.gla.ac.uk/explore/adamsmith300/wealthofnations250/) — the full anniversary programme. *The Scottish Economic Society is a funder.* - [The World in 1776 — interactive game](https://worldin1776.org.uk/) — step into 1776 and explore the forces that shaped the modern world: empire, trade, slavery and revolution. - [Adam Smith 300 (2023 tercentenary)](https://www.gla.ac.uk/explore/adamsmith300/) — Glasgow's wider hub on Smith's life, ideas and 21st-century relevance. ### Smith's other book - *The Theory of Moral Sentiments* (1759) — Smith's book on ethics and human sympathy. The two works belong together; see the **[[Adam Smith#His two books — and why the difference matters|"two books" section]]** on the Adam Smith page. ## Study guide questions 1. *The Wealth of Nations* was published in 1776. What was happening in the world that year, and why might it matter for a book about trade and wealth? *(Try the [World in 1776 game](https://worldin1776.org.uk/).)* 2. Smith asks "what is wealth?" In your own words, how is his answer different from "money" or "gold"? 3. Pick one of Glasgow's three themes — the **nature**, **causes**, or **politics** of wealth. Why is it still relevant 250 years on? --- ← Back to [[Introduction to SES Resources]]