What is Economics? We might take our definition from the father of modern economics, Adam Smith. 
(The symbol means a reference to background material on an economist, historical period or event). He entitled his famous book An Inquiry Into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations. That is not a bad description of the subject matter of economics, but many modern economists have tried to find a more logical or scientific definition.
Smith was, in many ways, the founder of modern economics. He wrote at a time when the industrial revolution was just beginning to transform European society. He observed that, in his own society, economic development could bring about a widespread prosperity, and yet other countries, and even some districts of an advanced country such as Britain, could lag behind in poverty. It was never difficult to account for poverty -- poverty had been the condition of most people since time immemorial -- but what could account for this prosperity? This was the question Smith put to himself, and in his time it was the central question of economics.
This hyperbook will follow Smith's example. We will be inquiring into the nature and causes of the wealth of nations, and that inquiry will be our definition and our answer to the question, "what is economics?"
Yet economics is a field full of controversy, and even the definition of the field has been a subject of controversy. We will take a look at the controversy before the end of this chapter. For now, however, let us follow the line of thought in the definition. What does it mean to study the nature and causes of the wealth of nations?
Universal Opulence
