Smith, Adam

The Wealth of Nations (Bantam Classics)
Average customer rating: 5 out of 5 stars
  • Seminal work from the father of economics
  • Go with Bantam
  • A must read if you are in economics
  • Insights on the Fundamentals of Wealth
  • Put on top of your reading list.
 The Wealth of Nations (Bantam Classics)
Adam Smith
Manufacturer: Bantam Classics
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Mass Market Paperback

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ASIN: 0553585975
Release Date: 2003-03-04

Book Description

The Wealth of Nations
by Adam Smith

It is symbolic that Adam Smith’s masterpiece of economic analysis, The Wealth of Nations, was first published in 1776, the same year as the Declaration of Independence.

In his book, Smith fervently extolled the simple yet enlightened notion that individuals are fully capable of setting and regulating prices for their own goods and services. He argued passionately in favor of free trade, yet stood up for the little guy. The Wealth of Nations provided the first--and still the most eloquent--integrated description of the workings of a market economy.

The result of Smith’s efforts is a witty, highly readable work of genius filled with prescient theories that form the basis of a thriving capitalist system. This unabridged edition offers the modern reader a fresh look at a timeless and seminal work that revolutionized the way governments and individuals view the creation and dispersion of wealth--and that continues to influence our economy right up to the present day.

Customer Reviews:

5 out of 5 stars Seminal work from the father of economics.......2007-05-25

Nobody seriously involved in economics can do without this exhaustive work, originally published in five volumes as An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations. This classic is a pragmatic and accessible milestone in the history of economics. Its author, Adam Smith, is woven into every economics textbook. However, Smith's theories, which today often are recounted mostly in fragments, frequently incorrectly, reveal their entire social and economic innovative power only in context. Smith burst onto the scene at a time when absolutist national states monopolized the world's precious metal reserves and tried to increase their own wealth through stringent export policies. These states were motivated by an entirely new concept about national wealth: that it stemmed from the work of the country's people, not from gold. Based on that idea, economic markets should balance themselves as if guided by an "invisible hand," impelled by each individual's self-interest. The state has to provide only an orderly framework and specific public goods and services. Even though Smith's image of idealized economic and social harmony may have developed a few cracks over the course of time, his ideas have inspired many well-known economists during the past 250 years, including David Ricardo, Vilfredo Pareto, Friedrich August von Hayek and Milton Friedman. We highly recommend this seminal work.

5 out of 5 stars Go with Bantam.......2007-02-12

If you're wondering which Wealth of Nations to purchase, get the Bantam paperback. This is Smith's complete and unabridged final version of the Wealth of Nations. It provides footnotes on Smith's wording, the historical context, and the differences between Smith's 5th edition and previous editions. In addition, the margin of the pages contain useful notes which summarize Smith's writing. For the price, this is clearly the superior choice.

Now, if you're wondering whether you should undertake such an endeavor, let me just say that Adam Smith was a professor of rhetoric. He explains everything so precisely, yet so comprehensible. Smith's writing is by no means difficult; I actually found it a surprisingly easy read given its antique nature. Once you get through the first chapter, you get quite used to Smith's writing style. If you put adequate time and energy into it, it's not hard at all.

5 out of 5 stars A must read if you are in economics.......2006-09-02

The works of Adam Smith are an essential part of universal culture, especially for economics. The introduction to the book places you at the time it was written, which makes it even more valuable.

5 out of 5 stars Insights on the Fundamentals of Wealth.......2006-08-21

This book is a modeling exercise about the components of a nation's wealth, whereby: Wealth of Nations = Land + Labour + Stock (ie Capital accumulated). This model serves as the foundation of the arguments in the entire book; and an excellent guide to analyze our modern market economies. Smith touches on various topics, ranging from market economics, history of colony establishments, state of opulence (briefly describing China in the 18th century), and of human nature and behavior in general.

Much of Adam Smith's ideas have been distorted by subsequent scholars, some of whom contorted his ideas to suit their own purposes. For example, in coining the word 'the Invisible Hand', Smith recommended free market competition as the foundation for progressive opulance. However, his implicit assumption was that people seeking their own benefits also embraced compassion and sympathy in their moral values. This 'moral value' part is often missing in contemporary economic analysis. As such, to gain an understanding of his complete doctrine, you should read this economics book together with his other book "The Theory of Moral Sentiments", which explores definitions of moral values and virtues.

Another issue worth mentioning is that lots of people thought that Capitalism was derived from Adam Smith's doctrine, and the current market economies in the USA is a descendent of this ideology. However, if we used his definitions and analysis to compare the current USA market system, you will find that parts of the US system seemed to match closer to the Merchantile System that Smith lambasted as inefficient and short-sighted.

A lot has been said about Smith's keen observations and eloquent quotes, however, most failed to mention his uncanny sense of humor. For example, in discussing about labor compensation, Smith remarked that "The public admiration which attends upon such distinguished abilities, makes always a part of their rewards; a greater or smaller in proportion as it is higher or lower in degree. It makes a considerable part of that reward in the profession of physics; a still greater perhaps in that of law; in poetry and philosophy it makes almost the whole."; when taken into contexts that Smith is a Scholar in Philosophy, and hence should expect `public admiration' as his total compensation package, this sentence is almost hilarious.

This book is an insightful read, albeit one that requires much pondering. It took Adam Smith ten years to complete the first edition of Wealth of Nations, hence I would strongly recommend taking a slow pace in this exploration of his wisdom.

You might ask whether there is an easier way to read this book, perhaps through some summary others wrote.

My opinion is really not to do that, because the gist of this book is on the thinking process and good learning does not come easy. Spend the time to reflect on his reasonings and you will gain significantly from his wisdom. Not to forget that you should get a copy of his other book "The Theory of Moral Sentiments" to fully appreciate the Wealth of Nations.

5 out of 5 stars Put on top of your reading list........2006-07-03

A classic... mandatory but pleasant reading if you are into Economics... not boring despite the size. Read with a pencil handy to highlight the too many good quotes. Get the Bantam Classics edition--cheap, small and unabridged (doesn't get much better than this). Mind boggling how good Adam Smith is.
On The Wealth of Nations (Books That Changed the World)
Average customer rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars
  • Worth reading but only the first half
  • Little actual economics
  • ORourkenomics
  • On The Wealth of Nations (Books That Changed the World)
  • PJ provides more of an intellectual service than true entertainment
 On The Wealth of Nations (Books That Changed the World)
P. J. O'Rourke
Manufacturer: Atlantic Monthly Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 0871139499

Book Description

As one of the first titles in Atlantic Monthly Press’ “Books That Changed the World” series, America’s most provocative satirist, P. J. O’Rourke, reads Adam Smith’s revolutionary The Wealth of Nations so you don’t have to. Recognized almost instantly on its publication in 1776 as the fundamental work of economics, The Wealth of Nations was also recognized as really long: the original edition totaled over nine hundred pages in two volumes—including the blockbuster sixty-seven-page “digression concerning the variations in the value of silver during the course of the last four centuries,” which, “to those uninterested in the historiography of currency supply, is like reading Modern Maturity in Urdu.” Although daunting, Smith’s tome is still essential to understanding such current hot-topics as outsourcing, trade imbalances, and Angelina Jolie. In this hilarious, approachable, and insightful examination of Smith and his groundbreaking work, P. J. puts his trademark wit to good use, and shows us why Smith is still relevant, why what seems obvious now was once revolutionary, and why the pursuit of self-interest is so important.

Customer Reviews:

3 out of 5 stars Worth reading but only the first half.......2007-06-05

The first 2/3rds of this book are insightful, erudite and irreverant helping to elucidate much of Smith's ideas beyond the "invisible hand". Adam Smith remains one of the most important thinkers in the last several hundred years. It is incredibly difficult to create any theory that actually stands the test of time or is even new so understanding Smith is time well spent. O'Rourke does an excellent job of making the 18th century language of Smith more intelligible to the average person.

Unfortunately, the last few chapters are unmemorable at best and tedious at worst. The humor becomes increasingly strained and irrelevant to the subject at hand, for example, comparing Smith's early education to his daughter learning to play "Kumbayah" on the recorder. The price of reading a satirist's take on Adam Smith's Wealth of Nations is that O'Rourke is not an economist and does not bring any great depth of understanding to the subject. He is far more concerned about the next clever thing that he plans to say and never really is able to deliver a proper ending to the book. It is as though he has become bored with the subject.

Economics is extremely complex entailing the analysis of thousand of pieces of often conflictory data. As a non-economist, O'Rourke asserts that Smith contradicts himself without any understanding that there are no black & white answers. Anyone who studies this subject in any depth and attempts to make sense of it, would likely be aware of the contradictions that Smith grappled with at a time when the study of economics was in its infancy.

I highly recommend the first 2/3rds of the book and suggest that readers stop reading when they find a declining return on their investment of time.

4 out of 5 stars Little actual economics.......2007-05-25

Smith was a Logic and Philosophy professor in George Washington's day. This was the middle of three of his works: the first, on morals, this, and the last, never completed, on law. It attempts to explain in a qualitative way what causes prosperity, and concludes that it comes from division of labor, trade, and absence of government interference. About all that could be said in those early days.

It is more a commentary on society, with suggestions on how governments should be run, or how various classes of men should behave. So it is a perfect foil for the author, social critic extrodinaire. He mines it for Smith's interesting observations, some because they are so contrary to modern thinking, others because they are still true today. As always, it's as much about the very opinionated and highly vocabularied O'Rourke as it is about his subject, but I enjoyed it.

4 out of 5 stars ORourkenomics.......2007-05-12

Worth reading. Read Heilbronen's The Worldly Philosopher's for a better short book on how economics really works.

4 out of 5 stars On The Wealth of Nations (Books That Changed the World).......2007-05-09

I could never get through Adam Smith's classic with any sense of comprehension. So tedious and tangental with digressions, I had developed the opinion that his wisdom may have given impetus to the philosophy and outworking of Capititalism but it was lost on me. How wonderful that P.J. O'Rourke could distill the importance in language that I could understand. And the interpretation is funny as well. I think I have found a series (Books That Changed the World) that is worth investigating. I recommend this book for those, like myself, who have not the time or energy to wade through the archaic for the gems - and thank O'Rouke for doing so on behalf of readers who need some help in such important books.

4 out of 5 stars PJ provides more of an intellectual service than true entertainment.......2007-05-03

Everyone who has read PJ knows how consistently entertaining his writing has been, whether he is dealing with trivial subject matter (our current generation of politicians) or weighty subject matter (American foreign policy).

In this book, PJ has taken on the ultimate challenge to his obvious gift of humor: resuscitating an 18th-century work which everyone quotes selectively - whether it's just the title, the proper noun "Smith," or the famous two words, "invisible hand."

There is no doubt that PJ is funny, very funny in this book. But, in the process, he also demonstrates his maturing capacity for intellectual rigor and what one might refer to as "academic standards" for original research.

Clearly, PJ's book could easily replace the original "Wealth of Nations" on the Econ 101 syllabus. And, for the following reasons: PJ proceeds methodically "chapter by chapter" through Smith's work, and he does not shy away from the more difficult passages, providing a close reading of the most dense and pregnant passages, you know, the ones bleary-eyed college students simply gloss over.

Finally, what is most helpful is PJ's explanation of what makes Smith so hard to read, so easy to misread, and so hard to understand for a 21st-century audience:

1. the complete lack of a technical language for economics in the 18th-century
2. our complete non-understanding of the importance for the price of silver -- to use one example -- to an 18th-century audience
3. how tightly Wealth of Nation's "economic" arguments are woven with Theory of Moral Sentiment's "moral" arguments

In reading this book, one does get the feeling that this book doesn't "flow" in the way PJ's short essays on current events do. But, at the same time, one can thank God that one does not need to read the "Wealth of Nations" now, in order to get a correct understanding of its importance and its implications.
Annie Leibovitz: American Music
Average customer rating: 4 out of 5 stars
  • Good for fans of Photography and Music
  • An intimate collection
  • Spectacular Photos!
  • Beautiful Photographs from a master, however unfinished
  • Classical?
 Annie Leibovitz: American Music

Manufacturer: Random House
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 0375505075
Release Date: 2003-10-28

Amazon.com

It looks like a gorgeous nostalgia trip to judge by the cover image alone. The photo is of an old school record player that lies unplugged, a white label test-pressing waiting on the turntable, while a band of paper wrapped around the cover announces the title in ye olde woodblock-looking type, American Music. A reading of the small type on the back cover reveals the image to be the very record and turntable left in Elvis Presley's bedroom the day he died, and the mind reels, thinking about whether the King listened to this record on that day or not, and who are the Stamps, anyway? An excellent selection of musician portraits interspersed with crumbly wooden jook joints and wide open fields in the South, American Music covers a wide gamut of jazz, blues, punk, country, hip-hop, rock and roll, folk and gospel musicians. And while most of the pictures were shot between 1999 and 2002, some go back to the early 1970s, when Leibovitz first became Rolling Stone magazine's chief photographer. Some of the artists are very well-known (Michael Stipe, Dolly Parton, Bob Dylan) and some of them are not (Jessie Mae Hemphill, Other Turner, Carlos Coy). Leibovitz really has a way of relaxing her performers, and this is a great part of her gift. Even when the pictures are so posed as to be ridiculous (like, what's Michael Stipe doing on that bedbug-ridden mattress—-the guy's a billionaire?), she catches her subjects at their most "real." They are lost in their music, or just doing some "real person" thing (look, there is Beck in his car—does Beck really drive his own car?). The presentation may be a little hokey, but this book is sure to please most any music fan. --Mike McGonigal

Book Description

The impulse to do AMERICAN MUSIC, writes famed photographer Annie Leibovitz, “came from a desire to return to my original subject and look at it with a mature eye. Bring my experience to it…make it a real American tapestry.” Her ambitious idea became AMERICAN MUSIC, a stunning collection of photographs of the musicians, places and people that enrich the landscape of American music.

As Rolling Stone’s chief photographer for over thirteen years, Leibovitz created a legendary body of work. Her portraits of some of the world’s most talented musicians capture more than the performer, they convey the art of making music. For AMERICAN MUSIC, Leibovitz traveled across the country to juke joints in the Mississippi Delta, honkytonks in Texas, and jazz clubs in New Orleans “to take pictures in places that mean something.” In her signature style, she shares stunning portraits of American greats -- B.B. King, Willie Nelson, Bonnie Raitt, Bruce Springsteen, Beck, Bob Dylan, Mary J. Blige, Jon Bon Jovi, S teve Earle, Ryan Adams, Miles Davis, Etta James, Pete Seeger, Emmylou Harris, Tom Waits, The Dixie Chicks, Dr. Dre, The Roots and many more.

AMERICAN MUSIC includes a commentary about the American Music project by Leibovitz, short essays by musicians Patti Smith, Rosanne Cash, Steve Earle, Mos Def, Ryan Adams, and Beck as well as biographical sketches of all the musicians.

Customer Reviews:

5 out of 5 stars Good for fans of Photography and Music.......2007-01-28

If you love the blues, or love photography this is a great book. While not specific to just Blues musicians this book just makes me think of good old delta blues. The prints in this book shine like they were hand printed by Annie herself. Theres a heart and soul driving this book from begining to end.
This is a more personal project for Annie Leibovitz and so doenst allway have her studio style inside.
That does not mean that each photograph is not amazing for they are, but some are a smaller more
candid world that Annie Leibotiz is capturing.

5 out of 5 stars An intimate collection.......2005-08-08

I just saw this exhibit at our MoMA, and the work is outstanding. Some of the images are color, some black and white. There are a number of styles and artists, ranging from the very famous to those unknown outside of their small communities. The point is that these are images of musicians--it's that simple.

Sometimes, Liebovitz's work is witty, sometimes it is unflinching in its honest portrayal. There is vulnerability in the subjects of her black and whites because they are so close, often just the face of the subject. To term them "ugly" is simply wrong. It is rare to see behind the artifice of celebrity images and see performers without makeup and with their skin texture and pores visible. Some of the photos are taken in people's homes, or backstage rather than on a set. This lends considerably to the intimacy and honesty that she is trying to convey.

If you want shots of your favorite singer looking oh so pretty, go to their PR person. This is a serious body of work from a renowned photographer. It blends both her celebrity work with her own private interests in portrait photography for non-commercial audiences.

4 out of 5 stars Spectacular Photos!.......2005-08-02

The catalog is gorgeous, the photographs are indeed spectacular. While the written entries were wonderful, they were too few and left me wanting more. I guess that's a good thing!

4 out of 5 stars Beautiful Photographs from a master, however unfinished.......2004-11-17

In response to another review on this site, clearly if you think the book has "poor aesthetic quality" You know nothing of photography or art for that matter.
The people in this book are beautifully portrayed in silver and in color. Clearly the photographs were taken over a number of years, which shows the scope of the project.
The only thing that I find wrong with this project is that it may be unfinished. The book is called American Music. Cleary that is why there are mainly blues, rock and roll and hip, country/folk and hip hop artists. Obviosly everyone would like to see their favorite artists in the book and have the ones they dislike removed. I however feel that this is the artists choice, and we have to live with it. If Leibovits decides to put out a 'Part II' it would do all of us a favor.
The only reason why I don't give this a 5 out of 5 stars is that most of the photographs don't grab you by the face and demand your attention. The ones that grab me the most are the artists I folllow, so perhaps there is something in that. Some measure of knowlegde that must accompany the photographs. Buy the book anyways...and listen to more blues albums. I didn't check this review for spelling, HA!

4 out of 5 stars Classical?.......2004-04-07

OK, think for a minute what it means deep down to chronical AMERICAN music.
That would be music that comes from the Delta and from Chicago and spread from there as essential Blues, Jazz, Rock and Roll and later forms of Pop. Classical came to us from Europe, what these artists represent are the outcome of truly American born music. I'm staggered that anyone would not make that connection..
And yes, we know that some may find Iggy Pop "ugly", but American Music isn't all about chicks that look like Britney Spears..
The Art and Science of CSS
Average customer rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • Great Buy
  • Some really useful techniques
  • CSS - Take Charge!
  • Another CSS Rehash
  • carrying this around w. me
The Art and Science of CSS
Jonathan Snooks , Steve Smith , Jina Bolton , Cameron Adams , and David Johnson
Manufacturer: SitePoint
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0975841971

Book Description

CSS-based design doesn 't need to be boring. The Art & Science of CSS brings together a talented collection of designers who will show you how to take the building blocks of your web site's design (such as headings, navigation, forms, and more) and bring them to life with fully standards-compliant CSS. This full color book helps you to design web sites that not only work well across all browsers, are easy to maintain, and are highly accessible, but are also visually stunning.

  • Create truly attention-grabbing headings.
  • Discover multiple ways to present images effectively.
  • Use background images to give your site zest.
  • Build usable and attractive navigation.
  • Design forms that are stylish and functional.
  • Learn how to break away from the square box clich ©.
  • Create funky tables.
  • And lots more

    Customer Reviews:

    5 out of 5 stars Great Buy.......2007-06-18

    This book is packed with information enough to be a textbook, but is interesting enough to keep any web designer happy. Best suited for new and novice designers, this book is informative enough to even give intermediate designers a healthy refresher into their trade.

    4 out of 5 stars Some really useful techniques.......2007-06-13

    On the whole, it's a good book that I'd recommend to any web designer whose CSS skills are somewhere between Beginner and Expert. It is a bit 'uneven' quality-wise, but that's only to be expected since there are five different authors.

    The chapters about styling forms and tables are really very good, and they alone justify the purchase of the book. If you've wondered how to achieve cross-browser styling of FIELDSET and LEGEND elements, this is where you find out.

    I do like that the authors take accessibility seriously and really emphasise its importance, while showing how you can achieve visually stunning designs. Only a few examples have accessibility issues, and those are clearly pointed out by the authors.

    The only thing that irks me is the habitual use of pretend-XHTML for no adequately explained reason. Especially the chapter where all the examples use an XHTML 1.1 doctype which the author clearly intends to serve as text/html. That sort of mistakes shouldn't be allowed to slip through the editorial cracks for a book of this calibre.

    4 out of 5 stars CSS - Take Charge!.......2007-06-12

    My background in Cascading Style Sheets (CSS) is minimal. I have taken two half day classes at our local university and I have no experience in practical usage of CSS. I am very comfortable with HTML coding but often use a WYSIWYG application to make functional no frills sites listing reference information. The book The Art & Science of CSS (published by Sitepoint) is very good for beginner to medium skill level users to pick up and work through. The title led me to believe that I was going to be exposed to practical methodology of adding well thought out design to my web site. The book did not disappoint.

    In the Navigation chapter there were four ways to build navigation shown (basic-no frills horizontal, vertical, vertical with tabs, vertical with graphics). This is just one example of how the book walks the user through several levels of the sample project, each one displaying a good visual presence on its own. The book takes these presences and slowly builds off each producing even a better visual piece. Building skill upon skill is a wonderful learning process. I got the feeling of a natural progression of working on a project. You work awhile, analyze the results and see where you need to make it better, then work some more.

    Several sections mentioned or displayed how different browsers will view content. A fix was provided for those occurrences where the differences were unacceptable. Other sections worked through a thought process pointing out the good and the bad about alternatives. There were several references on how to alter code that complies with screenreader usage.

    A slight touch of humor was scattered throughout the book such as a "grasshopper" reference from a 70's TV series titled Kung Fu. Yes, I'm old enough to have watched it-but I was very young. I was amused how throughout the book they kept giving me ways to stop using tables to format data and in the end showed how to make tables shine in ways tables where intended to be used. Is there anything I didn't like about the book? No, I really can't think of anything. It prompted you to a web site where you can download material to walk through the examples. I will need to go over certain sections of the book again so I fully grasp individual details but I will assume this is because of my lack of skill with using CSS. I highly recommend this book and feel that it will help users take control of their web site...GOODBYE TEMPLATES!

    3 out of 5 stars Another CSS Rehash.......2007-06-09

    I bought this book based on the reviews. Foolish was I. I'm not sure I'll purchase any more Sitepoint books without driving over to the local book store and flipping through the pages first. My last three purchases from them have been a little disappointing.

    If you haven't already read tons of books on CSS, then I can see how this would be an "ok" source of information. If you haven't already read "Transcending CSS" by Andy Clarke or CSS Mastery by Andy Budd, or even the somewhat outdated "Bulletproof Web Design" by Dan Cederholm, then I strongly suggest you start there. This book teaches/shows how "these" authors/designers pulled off certain tasks. I'm concerned about the techniques that are being used to teach those who are supposedly less informed than the authors.

    I couldn't help but ask myself why they're teaching their readers to use empty
    's in their markup just for styling purposes. Many classes and ID's were assigned throughout this book simply for styling purposes alone. Not much emphasis was placed on semantics. In saying this, many things could have been accomplished with leaner markup and the use of adjacent and sibling selectors, attribute selectors, etc. If you read Clarke's or Budd's books, you'll learn that this extraneous code is completely superfluous and there are smarter ways to use your markup.

    Topics they cover that have already been covered in numerous other books include:
    1. Rounded Corners. This has been covered a ridiculous amount of times in other books. Try Dan Cederholm's Bulletproof Web Design that was released by New Riders a few years ago. Douglas Bowman has articles in his blog covering rounded corner navigation styling (Sliding Doors of CSS) that you can read for free at www.stopdesign.com.

    2. Form Styling. Same information can be found in Andy Budd's CSS Mastery. It's essentially the same information. Cameron Moll also discusses some of these techniques on his blog.

    3. Navigation/Link styling. The same information can be found in almost every CSS book I've read (to date is over 10 books on the subject) and every free online tutorial. This information hasn't really changed over the last 2 years.

    4. Image Stacking and Transparency - Done by Jeff Croft in a recent Sitepoint publication entitled "Web Standards Creativity". See chapter 5. Feel free to check out my review on that book as well.

    I'm still scratching my head over the significance of the word "Scientific" in the title of this book. Anyone care to comment on this review and explain that one to me? I'm becoming more and more disappointed with Sitepoint Publications as they come out. They're good at marketing, I guess, because I keep buying them and reading them. The titles are more misleading as each new publication comes out, and the content is re purposed from existing books - some of which are New Riders and Friends of Ed publications. There's nothing new here. If you've read other "good" books on the subject, I strongly recommend saving your money.

    5 out of 5 stars carrying this around w. me .......2007-05-30

    I won this book at a tech event in SF; they just asked that I write a review. Well. I've had the book for a while.. and I find that I'm carrying it around w. me reading segments and using it for inspiration and guidance.
    they've done a good job; its very useful and packs in the information in digestible fashion. the additional resource links are very good.
    so. all in all. A very good book. I'd recommend it.
    Money Game
    Average customer rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars
    • a great (little) book
    • Good Perspective on the Markets
    • Funny, smart, classic
    • not to !sure bout this one~
    • Hard to believe it was not written this year!
    		 Money Game
    Adam Smith
    Manufacturer: Vintage
    ProductGroup: Book
    Binding: Paperback

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    5. Where Are the Customers' Yachts: or A Good Hard Look at Wall Street (Wiley Investment Classics)

    ASIN: 0394721039
    Release Date: 1976-08-12

    Customer Reviews:

    5 out of 5 stars a great (little) book.......2007-03-25

    I found it a great book.
    it's not "technical", but showed me many new things and approaches to the market.
    it's not a novel, but I assure I laughed out loud in the middle of the night!
    it's not about "psychology", but the last chapter made me understand much more about my inner thoughts on me-as-a-trader than a whole book...

    I would recommend for the ones who, having red about ten books on "how to trade, and be a millionare....", would like to taste something different.
    but only if they like, also, reading good books.

    3 out of 5 stars Good Perspective on the Markets.......2007-01-23

    Not my favorite on the markets, but definitely a good read.

    5 out of 5 stars Funny, smart, classic.......2006-11-25

    A friend at work recommended this, and I agree that it is important--and fun--reading for everyone in finance, and in fact for everyone interested in investment. Moreover, George Goodman's witty nuances show that he knows economics much more than the average finance journalist. His descriptions of technical analysis and efficient market theory are superb... Perhaps most amazing is the similarity of the passages on the 60's high tech bubble to the late 90's madness.

    2 out of 5 stars not to !sure bout this one~.......2006-10-25

    This book was good but not terrific. after reading best sellers like Why we want you to be rich by Donald TRump and God Doesn't run a $2 Shop by Sage Saint Francis i found that this book just was not in the same leauge.
    This book just did not cut it, i mean those two books changed my life, and actually got me the result and financial freedom i was after but they are not for everyone.
    I found this information to be very simple and at times misleading...at best!
    I do not feel this is the authors best work, however i still believe it is a good investment and a descent place to start.

    5 out of 5 stars Hard to believe it was not written this year!.......2006-09-05

    I gave this book 5 stars for a few reasons, it kept me entertained, it is funny, it is very true, it also relates perfectly to todays markets and market participants.

    "The more things change, the more they stay the same" I don't know who originally said that, but it really does apply to the financial markets. The author paints a great picture of the markets during the 60s and you will have a hard time reconciling the fact that he is not talking about the present day.

    Its a good book and I recommend it highly for any investor.
    Atlantic Cruising Club's Guide to Long Island Sound Marinas (Book & CD-ROM)
    Average customer rating: Not rated
      		Atlantic Cruising Club's Guide to Long Island Sound Marinas (Book & CD-ROM)
      Elizabeth Adams Smith
      Manufacturer: Jerawyn Publishing Inc.
      ProductGroup: Book
      Binding: Paperback

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      Similar Items:
      1. The Cruising Guide to the New England Coast: Including the Hudson River, Long Island Sound, and the Coast of New Brunswick, Twelfth Edition
      2. Atlantic Cruising Club's Guide to New England Marinas (Book & CD-ROM)
      3. Waterway Guide Northern 2006: Jersey Shore, New York, Hudson- Erie, Long Island Sound and New England Waters to Canada (Waterway Guide Northern Edition) (Waterway Guide Northern Edition)
      4. A Cruising Guide to Narragansett Bay and the South Coast of Massachusetts: Including Buzzard's Bay, Nantucket, Martha's Vineyard, and Block Island
      5. The Coast of Summer: Sailing New England Waters from Shelter Island to Cape Cod

      ASIN: 0966402847

      Book Description

      Facts, Facts, and more Facts + 1,800 Photos, Rates, Ratings, and Reviews Absolutely everything you need to know to decide where to tie up for a night or a week, packed into the only objective consumers' guide to marinas and marine facilities.

      For more than a decade, the Atlantic Cruising Club has been providing highly detailed, objective marina information to the East Coast boating consumer. The latest Guide - the Seventh Edition - has now grown to nine regional volumes covering Bar Harbor, ME to Padre Island, TX in the East, and Point Roberts, WA to Chula Vista, CA on the West Coast. The Guides are being published sequentially over the next year. The first regional volume, the Atlantic Cruising Club's Guide to New England Marinas was very well received and the second regional volume, the Atlantic Cruising Club's Guide to Long Island Sound Marinas, is now complete. 232 Marina Reports and 1,800 photos cover Block Island, RI to Cape May, NJ, including the Fishers Island Sound, the Connecticut River, the Peconics, Long Island's South Shore Inlets and the New Jersey Inlets.

      These are consumers' guides - marina advertising is neither solicited nor accepted and there is no charge to the marinas for inclusion.

      The new edition has been expanded to an 8 ½" x 11" format to accommodate the addition of both photographs and 50% more information -- up to 300 facts on each marina. Every facility is now rated on three scales - 1 to 5 Bells for cruiser services, 1 or 2 Travelifts for boatyard services and a Sunset for very special places. Marina information covers contact info, marina operations, rates, services, facilities, megayacht services, navigation information, boat supplies (chandleries, propane, ice, CNG, bait), and boatyard capabilities (rates, certifications, specialties, etc.). The very detailed "what's near by" sections cover restaurants (names & price ranges, too), lodgings (rates), recreation (from golf and tennis to swimming and bowling), entertainment (cinemas to museums, tours, and live theater), provisioning (including the nearest chain supermarkets, gourmet shops, farmers' markets, fishmongers, etc.),general services (from bookstores and hardware stores to full-service laundries), transportation (rental cars, courtesy cars, airports and limos, cabs, bike rentals, water taxis, ferry services, local busses, rail, etc.) and medical services (from 911 and hospitals to massage therapists and vets). The "Review" section is comprised of three densely packed paragraphs (Setting, Marina Notes, and Notable), each chock full of even more useful information.

      The Atlantic Cruising Club's Guides to Marinas are delivered in both print and CD-ROM formats (in one package). Each volume includes 1,600-2,000 photographs - one of each marina in the Book, and 4-9 full-color photos of each on the CD-ROM. The easy-to-use CD-ROM allows boaters to search on over 100 fields—location, rates, ratings, reported depths, etc., etc., etc - and it stores in a sturdy clear vinyl sleeve in the back of the book.

      Both the Book and CD-ROM have been designed with easy navigation in mind. A Regional Map shows all 232 marinas covered in the ACC's Guide to Long Island Sound Marinas and 14 sub-region maps locate the marinas in a particular area. On the CD-ROM, the map is in full-color and all the marina "buttons" are "hot"; just click to display that marina's Report. Or use the very flexible CD search tool which makes searching on over 100 data fields very simple. For instance: "Show me all the marinas in Mid-Coast Maine that have slips with at least 6 ft. of reported depth at MLW, charge less than $1.50 per foot, and have at least a 3 Bell Rating." Or "Show me all the marinas
      Atlantic Cruising Club's Guide to New England Marinas (Book & CD-ROM)
      Average customer rating: 5 out of 5 stars
      • Guide to New England Marinas
      • Fabulous, functional and informative.
      		 Atlantic Cruising Club's Guide to New England Marinas (Book & CD-ROM)
      Elizabeth Adams Smith
      Manufacturer: Jerawyn Publishing Inc.
      ProductGroup: Book
      Binding: Paperback

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      1. A Cruising Guide to Narragansett Bay and the South Coast of Massachusetts: Including Buzzard's Bay, Nantucket, Martha's Vineyard, and Block Island
      2. A Visual Cruising Guide to the Maine Coast
      3. The Cruising Guide to the New England Coast: Including the Hudson River, Long Island Sound, and the Coast of New Brunswick, Twelfth Edition
      4. Atlantic Cruising Club's Guide to Long Island Sound Marinas (Book & CD-ROM)
      5. The Coast of Summer: Sailing New England Waters from Shelter Island to Cape Cod

      ASIN: 0966402839

      Book Description

      The Atlantic Cruising Club takes the guesswork out of putting ashore with the release of 7th Edition, Volume 1: Atlantic Cruising Club's Guide to New England Marinas. Facts, Facts, and more Facts. Absolutely everything you need to know to decide where to tie up for a night or a week,packed into the only objective consumers' guide to marinas and marine facilities.Rates, Ratings, and Reviews.

      For most boaters cruising is one part fun, one-part adventure, one part stress, one part food and one part character building - a pretty exhilarating and exhausting combination. So, at the end of the day, all you really want to do is tie-up, kick back and relax. If you're away from home waters that often means finding a slip or mooring. But a marina stay can be expensive - sometimes as expensive as a nice hotel room - and a lot harder to leave if it's not what you expected. To choose the "right" marina, you can spend hours on the phone quizzing dockmasters or rely on those little chartlets in the cruising guides or trust the veracity of the marina ads. Or you can turn to the Atlantic Cruising Club's Guides to Marinas - complete with bound-in searchable CD-ROMs. For more than a decade, the Atlantic Cruising Club has been providing highly detailed, objective marina information to the East Coast boating consumer.

      The latest Guide - the Seventh Edition - has now grown to six regional volumes covering Bar Harbor, Maine to Padre Island, Texas - and is being published sequentially over the next eight months. The first regional volume, the Atlantic Cruising Club's Guide to New England Marinas is at the printer and the second regional volume, the Atlantic Cruising Club's Guide to Long Island Sound Marinas, will be released in mid July.

      These are consumers' guides - marina advertising is neither solicited nor accepted and there is no charge to the marinas for inclusion.The new edition has been expanded to an 8 ½" x 11" format to accommodate the addition of both photographs and 50% more information than in the Sixth Edition -- up to 300 facts on each marina. Every facility is now rated on three scales - 1-5 Bells for cruiser services, 1-2 Travelifts for boatyard services and a Sunset for very special places. The "Review" section is comprised of three densely packed paragraphs (Setting, Marina Notes, and Notable), each chock full of even more useful information.

      Marina information covers contact info, marina operations, rates, services, facilities, megayacht services, navigation information, boat supplies (chandleries, propane, ice, CNG, bait), and boatyard capabilities (rates, certifications, specialties, etc.). The very detailed "what's near by" sections cover restaurants (names & price ranges, too), lodgings (rates), recreation (from golf and tennis to swimming and bowling), entertainment (cinemas to museums, tours, and live theater) , provisioning (including the nearest chain supermarkets, gourmet shops, farmers' markets, fishmongers, etc.), general services (from bookstores to hardware stores to full-service laundries), transportation (rental cars, courtesy cars, airports and limos, cabs, bike rentals, water taxis, ferry services, local busses, rail, etc.) and medical services (from 911 to hospitals to massage therapists to vets).

      The Atlantic Cruising Club's Guides to Marinas are delivered in both print and CD-ROM formats (in one package). Each volume includes over 1,500 photographs - one of each marina in the Book, and 4-9 full-color photos of each on the CD-ROM. The easy-to-use CD-ROM allows boaters to search on over 100 fields—location, rates, ratings, reported depths, etc., etc., etc - and it stores in a sturdy clear vinyl sleeve in the back of the book.

      Both the Book and CD-ROM have been designed with easy navigation in mind. A Regional Map shows all 230 marinas covered in the ACC Guide to New England Marinas and 12 sub-region maps locate the marinas in a particular area. On the CD-ROM, the map is in full-color

      Customer Reviews:

      5 out of 5 stars Guide to New England Marinas.......2005-07-19

      Very good. Lots of info CD erxcellent as a reference

      5 out of 5 stars Fabulous, functional and informative........2003-07-15

      This Atlantic Cruising Club Guide to New England Marinas is well organized, laid out and easy to navigate. The book and CD are complimentary to each other - plus allows the skipper to use one medium while the first-mate uses the other! ;-)
      Dallas Rhinoplasty: Nasal Surgery by the Masters (2-Volume Set with 2 CD-ROMs for Windows & Macintosh)
      Average customer rating: Not rated
        		Dallas Rhinoplasty: Nasal Surgery by the Masters (2-Volume Set with 2 CD-ROMs for Windows & Macintosh)

        Manufacturer: Quality Medical Publishing
        ProductGroup: Book
        Binding: Hardcover

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        ASIN: 1576261298
        The Theory of Moral Sentiments (Philosophical Classics)
        Average customer rating: 5 out of 5 stars
        • Contemporary importance of a 250 year old book.
        • Wow! What a mind.
        • My favorite book of all time
        • Modern, Empirical Ethical Theory
        • The powerhouse behind the Wealth of the Nations
        		 The Theory of Moral Sentiments (Philosophical Classics)
        Adam Smith
        Manufacturer: Dover Publications
        ProductGroup: Book
        Binding: Paperback

        Ethics & MoralityEthics & Morality | Philosophy | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books
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        Similar Items:
        1. The Wealth of Nations (Modern Library Classics)
        2. The Wealth of Nations (Bantam Classics)
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        5. Capitalism and Freedom: Fortieth Anniversary Edition

        ASIN: 0486452913

        Book Description

        The foundation for a system of morals, this 1749 work is a landmark of moral and political thought. Its highly original theories of conscience, moral judgment, and virtue offer a reconstruction of the Enlightenment concept of social science, embracing both political economy and theories of law and government.

        Download Description

        What can he added to the happiness of the man who is in health, who is out of debt, and has a clear conscience? To one in this situation, all accessions of fortune may properly be said to be superfluous; and if he is much elevated upon account of them, it must be the effect of the most frivolous levity. This situation, however, may very well be called the natural and ordinary state of mankind.

        Customer Reviews:

        5 out of 5 stars Contemporary importance of a 250 year old book........2007-06-09

        After reading Paul J. Zak's "Values and Value: Moral Economics" (Gruter Institute Projecct on Values and Free Enterprise)in which he refers to Smith's book on morals, I wanted to reread a book that I had read several decades ago when I was studying economic theory. It continues to be most engaging. Zak noted that "of Adam Smith's two great books, the The Theory of Moral Sentiments is typically considered much less important than the Wealth of Nation, though this view is starting to change."

        There is much current attention to ethics; much of it is "how to.. ." guidance and generally quite superficial. Rereading Smith's profound observations -- that continue to have relevance -- is refreshing and enlightening. Smith recognized the significance of "virtuous behaviors" . . and understood well that shared moral behaviors are prerequisistes for a successfully-functioning society. Chapters with titles such as "Of the Amiable and Respectable Virtures," "Of the social Passions," Of the Selfish Passions." are illustrative of the introductory sections topics.

        A rereading reminds me of words of the founding fathers of the U. S. -- of the early leaders throughout the developing country. Smith wrote in the early decades of the 19th century; there is a quaintness to his language, but his insight is not lost. His writing provides the joy that beautiful antique furniture from the same century delights the eye; his book will delight the mind.

        5 out of 5 stars Wow! What a mind........2007-01-03

        The language is quaintly old but somehow that eases in. A voice from the past is telling you how our whole social fabric has come to be. It isn't driven by dogma. It is driven by pure reason and an uncanny perception. Strongly grounded in reality, and not just air headed philosophical blather, this is a great source for those who need to assign values to concepts - but not just based on faith or some dogma taken as truth without question.

        Adam Smith then turns that perceptual engine of his on speech, itself. It is an extra that, by itself, is worth the price of the book.

        5 out of 5 stars My favorite book of all time.......2006-05-23

        I must seem like someone in great need of a unifying philosophy, because several people have tried to lend me theirs. Ex-boyfriends seem to think Daoism just the thing, while acquaintances recommend Jesus (that's why they stall out at acquaintances). After reading this book, though, I can now say, "No thanks. I've got Adam Smith."

        When I was trying to get over a death in the family, this book provided me by far the greatest solace. Smith summarizes the ancient schools of philosophy (and most interestingly, how some got perverted into serving as the basis of Christianity), and from them distills a manual for life that's both intuitive and useful. What I like best about Adam Smith is that while his genius may not be immediately apparent, his common sense is.

        The last chapter of the book deals with the origins of language, and it's about my favorite. Besides making me wonder why there are any linguists still employed, Smith touches on evolution and boolean logic (computer language). Based on this chaper alone, he should be called the father of linguistics; if he had elaborated just a bit more, perhaps he would have been the father of evolution, as well.

        5 out of 5 stars Modern, Empirical Ethical Theory.......2005-07-07

        The book under review was published by LibertyClassics.

        Smith's "Theory of Moral Sentiments" (TMS) is both an excellent work of psychology and an eloquent exposition of philosophy. It was written about the same time as David Hume's and Francis Hutchinson's theories of moral sentiments (theory of benevolence) in the 18th century, departing from the ancient ethical paradigms of a priori ethics and reaching instead toward an empirical, a posteriori ethics for modernity. Rather than deducing first principles from the philosopher's armchair, Smith's account begins with experience, habit, and custom based on nature's disposition of mankind's moral constitution. Therefore, it is a wholly modern theory, and in many ways anticipates Darwinism and evolutionary biology (EB).

        Smith's ethical account is grounded entirely in observation. Nature, custom, habit, and experience teach us its principles, which comports with both our internal judgments and our external evaluations. By our imagination, we place ourselves as if we are the other person, conceiving ourselves as if we were that person. Our emotions well up with an "analogous emotion" of the other, vicariously experiencing the other's pleasures and pain, his gratitude and resentment, becoming sympathetic to the other's plight as though it were our own. Love and gratitude are agreeable sensations, while hatred and resentment are disagreeable passions. Our sympathy for the other is measured like that of "an impartial spectator" who we become by viewing another's motives and actions by our own in accordance with our own sense of propriety, moral sense (duty), and benevolence, by "bringing the case home to ourselves."

        "Every faculty in one man is the measure by which he judges of the like faculty in another. I judge of your sight by my sight, of your ear by my ear, of your reason by my reason, of your resentment by my resentment, of your love by my love" (I.i.3.10). "We approve of another mans judgment, not as something useful, but as right, as accurate, as agreeable to truth and reality" (I,i.4.4). Conscious of another person's situation generates sympathy in ourselves, and the correspondence with one another, is "sufficient for the harmony of society" (I.i.4.6). "To feel much for others and little for ourselves, that to restrain our selfish, and to indulge our benevolent affections, constitutes the perfection of human nature . . . .as to love our neighbor as we love ourselves is the great law of Christianity . . . . as our neighbor is capable of loving us" (I.i.5.5).

        Based upon these primary motives of gratitude and resentment (foreshadowing Trivers' and Hamilton's reciprocal altruism in EB) leads to an analysis of grief and joy, anger and love, suffering and enjoyments, distress and relief, envy and magnanimity, and all the other binary emotional relations. To each emotion we attach a "proportionable recompense" for merit and demerit, reward and punishment. A sympathetic imagination or indignation naturally boils up in the breast of the impartial spectator.

        While beneficence is always a free act, we do have duties given us by nature in order to be just. Justice, writes Smith, is a negative virtue and only hinders us from harming our neighbor through retaliation or punishment "to safeguard of justice and the security of innocence." Even though we are primarily motivated by self-love, we imagine an impartial spectator to humble the arrogance of self-love to avoid hurting one's neighbor.

        Smith makes clear that "man, who subsist only in society, was fitted by nature to that situation for which he was made," and that is to act reciprocally. For ill inflicted unjustly on another, we naturally seek retaliation; for the good afforded from love, we reciprocate the affection. After all, "society cannot subsist among those who are at all times ready to hurt and injure one another" (II.ii.3.3). This occurs "for the purpose of advancing the two great purposes of nature, the support of the individual, and the propagation of the species" (II.ii.3.5). When it comes to society, justice is more important than beneficence, because, while society can live without beneficence, it cannot survive without justice. Nature, and society through habit and custom, implant conscience in the human breast, and every injustice, therefore, alarms man. Conversely, Smith observes, "mercy to the guilty is cruelty to the innocent" (II.ii.3.7).

        Like Hume before him, Smith locates the causes of pain and pleasure as being behind the primary motivations of the two chief emotions: For Hume they are love and hatred, for Smith they are gratitude and resentment. To measure the propriety and duty of one's own actions, "we must become the impartial spectators of our character and conduct" (III.2.2). Man is naturally endowed to live in society with a desire to please others and avoid offending others, and it is our duty to impartially evaluate ourselves at least as stringently, if not more, than we evaluate others. Nature has made man the immediate Judge of mankind, ever making proper comparisons between our own interests and those of other people. We judge ourselves best when act as if we stand in a place with eyes of a third person. "It is reason, principle, conscience, the inhabitant of the breast, the man within, the great judge and arbiter of our conduct" (III.3.5). Of course, our own disciplined, self-command, coupled with constancy and firmness, makes our interior and exterior comparisons and resemblances fair and equitable.

        Smith's TMS covers much territory also covered by Hume, but from a different angle, and with a different regard for "utility" in a theory of benevolence. Both theories are thoroughly modern, and readers familiar with EB will find that Smith better anticipates many of EB's themes, i.e., reciprocal altruism, kin selection, etc. Smith's perception of man as he will become described by Darwin is uncanny. Although Hume's account begins with first principles of observation, and heuristically builds upon empirical foundations, Smith's observation begins with the more mundane and ordinary and refines toward first principles. Even though they are in agreement on most matters, it's intellectually interesting to take note of their differences (e.g., utility). Regrettably, the ethical theory of moral sentiments gets little attention in ethics courses, despite the ease of reading and relevance to today's modern synthesis. Both deserve a wider audience. This handsome text is well introduced, annotated, and documented.. Recommended.

        5 out of 5 stars The powerhouse behind the Wealth of the Nations.......2003-12-04

        The Scottishman Adam Smith is the father of economic thought and the author of the most renowned book on Economics ever written, The Wealth of the Nations, which is also a good book to read if you hadn't . Behind the greatest economist of all there was the philosopher and man of culture and this phenomenal book, The Theory of Moral Sentiments, shows the philosopher in his prime, portraying as the subject of his inquiries man as is, be it in the pre-vitorian time Smith lived, be it today or in ancient Greece.

        To approach the book trough the right angle, one has to remind that one of the fundamental Principles of the Smithianian economic doctrine, as portrayed in the Wealth Of the Nations, is the one that says that when each one of us exerts himself to his utmost in order to achieve his own egotistical ends, he does good not only to himself but also to the whole community or nation in which he lives, by means of the division of labor and specialization required in the proccess of competition. But that is not to say that Adam Smith recommended egotistical behavior to each and everyone, an economic free for all. What he only meant was to stress the importance of specialization to the incipient division of labor of his time. To add some salt in the debate, it is suficient to say that one can have many motives to exert himself in any work to attain personal goals not the least egostitical, like buying a new home for his family, or enrolling his children in a private school.

        But, where man feels not only for himself but has a kind of reflex feeling for the feeling or sentiments of other human beings, it is the purpose of the book to show by what mechanisms does it happen and, sometimes, why. A good example is, to use a expression used by Smith, the different human reactions by two different men, one condemned to the scaffold, where he will sure find death, and the other punished with the scourge in the pillory. The former faces certain death but can save his face by adopting an aloft posture in the scafold, no matter what his faults were, earning praise and respect from the multitude. The latter, comdemned to whipping and public ignominy, faces a future life of ignominy and shame , specially if he communicates via his cries to the onlookers the severity of the punishment inflicted.

        The book is extremely rich in the narrative of many such examples of human behavior in the face of felicity or distress, and the way the spectators (to use a favorite expression of Smith) react to the suffering and blessings on others. IF you are interested in know better your human nature, and the nature of your fellow acquaintances, this is the book to read.
        The Wealth of Nations (Modern Library Classics)
        Average customer rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars
        • Free trade and pro biz
        • Must have.
        • Readable introduction to economic theory
        • Brutal, Yet Interesting Read
        • Brutal, Yet Interesting Read
        		 The Wealth of Nations (Modern Library Classics)
        Adam Smith , and Robert Reich
        Manufacturer: Modern Library
        ProductGroup: Book
        Binding: Paperback

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        5. The Communist Manifesto (Penguin Classics)

        ASIN: 0679783369
        Release Date: 2000-11-14

        Book Description

        Adam Smith's masterpiece, first published in 1776, is the foundation of modern economic thought and remains the single most important account of the rise of, and the principles behind, modern capitalism. Written in clear and incisive prose, The Wealth of Nations articulates the concepts indispensable to an understanding of contemporary society; and Robert Reich's new Introduction for this edition both clarifies Smith's analyses and illuminates his overall relevance to the world in which we live. As Reich writes, "Smith's mind ranged over issues as fresh and topical today as they were in the late eighteenth century--jobs, wages, politics, government, trade, education, business, and ethics."

        Download Description

        The first truly scientific argument for the principles of political economy.

        Customer Reviews:

        5 out of 5 stars Free trade and pro biz.......2007-01-25

        Great study material - very difficult read, but a must read that should be taught in high school.
        Buy this if you support free trade, less government, and the American dream. Beware, this books represents everything a liberal opposes, ideals which are deeply hated by those who support liberal gods like Barak Hussein Obama and Miss H. Rodham.

        5 out of 5 stars Must have........2007-01-03

        They shouldn't let you out of school unless you have this one in your head. Nice to have a copy around.

        5 out of 5 stars Readable introduction to economic theory.......2006-06-15

        For anyone coming to Adam Smith's Wealth of Nations the first surprise is how readable it is. Famous classic of economic theory though it may be, this is no dry academic tome to be read only by people with a scholarly interest in economic history. There are no detailed tables of statistics of the sort one might expect to find in a modern book on the subject, and no mathematical analysis, indeed not very much quantitative information at all. Instead there is a long series of examples to explain such ideas as why it is more efficient to divide work among several specialists rather than have a complete task fulfilled by one person, or why slave labour is ultimately more expensive than paying free workers, even workers in cities like Boston or New York, where wages were far higher in Smith's time than those in his native Scotland.

        To illustrate the principle of the division of labour Smith discusses the manufacture of nails. Even a blacksmith -- skilled in working with a hammer but with no special training in nail making -- could not make more than a few hundred nails in a day, and those of poor quality. A specialist nail maker could make more than two thousand, but much greater improvements, both in quality and quantity, come from recognizing that even a task as apparently simple as manufacturing a nail can be broken up into smaller tasks: maintaining the fire at the right temperature, hammering the nail into the right shape, using a different tool to form the head, and so on.

        A popular edition of Wealth of Nations is inevitably abridged, as one can hardly expect to buy a complete scholarly edition for a price not much more than that of a novel. Complete editions are available as well, but they are much more expensive. With sensible editing, however, an abridged version can include as much of Smith's writing as the ordinary reader is likely to want, together with notes to explain points that will be obscure to the modern reader. In the Oxford World's Classics edition Kathryn Sutherland has made an excellent job of this, with notes that fill around a fifth of the length of the book.

        4 out of 5 stars Brutal, Yet Interesting Read.......2006-02-25

        This was absolutely a brutal read; however, it was more or less a paradox described as painfully interesting. The mind of Adam Smith is incredible, and I encourage an interested reader to duke it out as you'll most certainly come out of the book more informed. I would recommend Wealth of Nations to anyone who has a mild interest in Economics. Brian Oley

        4 out of 5 stars Brutal, Yet Interesting Read.......2006-02-25

        I am going to refer to the original text version written by Adam Smith: This was absolutely a brutal read; however, it was more or less a paradox described as painfully interesting. The mind of Adam Smith is incredible, and I encourage an interested reader to duke it out as you'll most certainly come out of the book more informed. I would recommend Wealth of Nations to anyone who has a mild interest in Economics. Brian Oley

        Philosophers:

        1. Socrates
        2. Solovyov, Vladimir
        3. Spencer, Herbert
        4. Spinoza, Baruch
        5. Stein, Edith
        6. Stirner, Max
        7. Taylor, Charles
        8. Teilhard De Chardin, Pierre
        9. Trotsky, Leon
        10. Voegelin, Eric

        Philosophers

        Philosophers