The most interesting aspects of this book is the question of authorship. Without a question, all of the writing in this book is done by Adam Smith, but this book only contains about ten percent or so of the material that is in the Wealth of Nations. The Invisible Hand, as important a concept as it is for many contemporary readers, is not something that was all that important within the Wealth of Nations, and this book drastically cuts most of the core material by which Smith demonstrates his poi...

Una obra que, pese a su grandeza general, combina pasajes sumamente lúcidos con otros más toscos o pesados, extraído todo ello de La Riqueza de las Naciones.Introduce nociones importantes en un estilo un poco anticuado, pero que, por lo que he podido observar considerando el resto de reseñas en inglés, está más modernizado que en su versión original fruto de una buena traducción.Si bien hay argumentos que ganarían más demostrando su peso lógico que por cómo Smith trata de ejemplificarlos, en oca...

excelente libro, una joya vigente , fascinante como expone problemas y sofismas que aun nos atañen, libro liberal, sencillo, y obligatorio si deseeas conocer la importancia de que los comerciantes trabajen en base a un interes propio, al momento de explicar lo que él denomina elocuentemente como "la mano invisible"

A bit of a struggle, because economics always affects me the same way as mogadon, but this is a good treatise on the subject (if you can stay awake).

This is a small but dense book which very nicely states Smith's understanding of free trade in the 1700's. Whether the author is correct or not wasn't the point of the book to me reading it some 300 years later. The point, for me, was as a view on a complex subject from a specific period of time.The fact that the book is still in print is an indicator of its thought provoking nature. I read it in that spirit rather than as description or philosophy relevant to today and as such enjoyed it greatl...

I don't normally read books on Economics but I thought I would read this one, since it's the book, or one of Adam Smith's books, that 'inspired' Thatcherism and the Free Marketeers. Yes, the Invisible Hand is about the Free Market and so paved the way for the modern capitalist system. Adam Smith argues that competition is the engine of a productive society and that self-interest will eventually benefit the whole community, as if by an 'Invisible Hand', hence the title. Adam Smith also argues tha...

Well, it is always good to go to the roots of concepts that has taken a firm root of our understanding of the word instead of their diluted, distorted versions (like reading the Origin of Species or Das Kapital). I would like to thank Penguin for cherry-picking the most important part of Smith's work and presenting it in a digestible way as from this 150 or so pages I'm convinced that I would be unable to read and understand fully his works. That said, the level of insight of this work is uncann...

A very disappointing book, caused by the publisher (Penguin) extracting 127 pages out of over 1,000 pages of material in Adam Smith's 5 books of The Wealth of Nations. What's more, this edition gives no introduction or explanation of the fact that this book is merely a series of extracts from the source books. I will look forward to reading the full books of The Wealth of Nations.

Distilled some broad lessons and was well ahead of its time in terms of making sense.I expected a more rigid structure rather than practical examples but it was helpful in learning about trade at that time period.

Recojo los mejores pasajes:"No es de la Benevolencia del carnicero, el cervecero o el panadero de donde cabe esperar nuestro almuerzo, sino de la atención a su propio interés.""Al buscar su propio interés, ese individuo fomenta con frecuencia y más eficientemente el de esa sociedad que cuando realmente persigue ese fomento" "Cualquier padre de familia prudente tiene como máxima no intentar hacer nunca en casa lo que le costará más fabricarse que comprar.""La industria del país sólo podrá aumenta...

Not bad, it was hard to read, but maybe it was because I read in Spanish and the translation was not that good. Nevertheless it is amazing how Adam Smith was aware of so many relevant aspects of the economy that long ago

Great to get some of the original thinking behind the Invisible Hand rather than the soundbyte. The book actually examines a lot of different fundamental notions of economics. Adam Smith's fundamental point is that it is rarely, if ever, in the interest of a country to provide restrictions to trade. An unconstrained free market is a better way to run things. In the process he usefully examines the concept of wealth, value, productivity, the divison of labor, taxes and agriculture. I found myself...

An enjoyable and insightful little book.

While a lot of Smith's writings are vague and (particularly in the second half) contradictory, there is no doubt that his central claim on the importance of free trade is spot on. Considered a founding document of the capitalist economic way, Smith's Wealth of Nations (the complete text from which this book is taken from) outlines the importance of a free market through an array of straight forward examples. I strongly recommend this book to anyone willing to read Marx or Engels, as to avoid Smi...

I found this a tricky read, partially due to the somewhat obscurist means of expression and partially because I was on high alert for bullshit from the patron saint of the free market. I certainly do not have a professional's understanding of the market, but I hate that slave labour can be used to make my clothes under the aegis of said free market and there's almost fuck-all I, the individual, can do about it. And Adam Smith invented this concept, so here we are.Fundamentally, though, he is tal...

It was harder than I expected to get through this book, due to a combination of reasons. First and foremost was the language in which the book was written. Being more than two hundred years old, it was written in an antiquated style which I found a little too tedious. Still, the content of the book was really interesting. I didn't realize that The Invisible Hand was an excerpt of The Wealth of Nations, so no I am obliged to read that as well. Reading Adam Smith makes me interested in taking macr...

نسخه فارسی کتاب رو خواندمترجمه مرضیه خسروی- نشر روزگار نوخود ترجمه خیلی متوسط بود. برخی جملات اصلا مفهوم نبود. جاهایی بسیار زیاد وجود داشت که کلمات به هم چسبیده بودن و نشون از کج سلیقگی و بی مسئولیتی در قبال دادن اثر تمیز به مخاطب بودبدتر از همه نگرانی من از تعداد صفحات هست . در این اثر تعداد صفحات از ب بسم الله تا پ پایان ، با نود صفحه کاغذ مواجهیم. حال آنکه در کتاب درج شده صد و دو صفحه. و در ویرایش انگلیسی میبینیم تعداد صفحات خیلی بیشتر هست. حتی ناشر در صفحه اول کتاب نام کامل انگلیسی کتاب رو ه...

I figured that I’ll read this instead of Wealth of Nations of which supposedly 7/8 is on corn prices. Maybe the choice of content was bad, or maybe it actually is a drag. I understand that Adam Smith is the (grand)father of economics, so I should not complain that it reads like a long whiny tale of an old bore. Well, to me it’s simply not worth reading. If you have any vague understanding of economics, you know what ‘the invisible hand’ is all about. And nowadays, modern economics has its own op...

Curto, simples e direto ao ponto. Leitura bem resumida de um dos pontos do enorme "Riqueza das Nações" com foco nos princípios da economia clássica da autorregulação dos mercados, vantagem comparativa e vantagens do livre comércio. Fun stuff.

"All systems of preferences and restraints therefore taken away, the system of liberty establishes itself in a natural accord. So a man, so long as it does not violate laws of justice, is free to pursue his interests and bring his capital and industry into competition with other man or order of man."