The Wealth of Nations - Kokufuron

The major work of British economist Adam Smith. Published in 1776. It is also translated as "The Wealth of Nations." The original title is " An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations" and consists of five parts. It is a book born out of Smith's profound moral philosophy and natural law, and is not just a classic of economics, but also occupies a position as a classic of civil society thought in general. For this reason, it was not only inherited by later economics, but was also accepted by Hegel and Marx as a system of civil society. In the history of modern Japan, it has been accepted not only as a policy to enrich the nation, but also as a guideline for the creation of a civil society.

In this book, Smith explored the source of wealth, but at the time, there was a conflict between the Mercantilist view of gold, silver, and currency as wealth and the Physiocrats' view that agriculture was the only source of wealth. Smith, on the other hand, believed that the source of wealth was annual labor, and that the wealth of a nation was determined, first, by the subdivided division of labor in productive labor such as agriculture, artisanship, and commerce, and, second, by the degree of capital accumulation that employs productive laborers. He then criticized the stagnation and wastefulness of feudalism and mercantilism, which hinder this. Of the five volumes, the first and second provide theoretical analyses of the division of labor, money, value, price, distribution, and capital accumulation, the third and fourth criticize the feudal land system and mercantilist trade and colonial policies, and the fifth focuses on national finances.

For Smith, the biggest problem was that national policies and legislation were being unfairly distorted by the influence of some major merchants and manufacturers with a deep-rooted monopoly mentality. As a result, monopoly profits were generated through colonial trade, preventing the optimal allocation of capital and labor, and suppressing the increase of wealth as a whole. Furthermore, their monopoly trade policies led to a long-term state of hostility with France, which should have been a friendly country, and even led to the American War of Independence. Deficit bonds were also accumulating in order to cover the expenses. Therefore, Smith's challenge throughout chapters 3 to 5 was to correct policies and laws in accordance with the nature of natural freedom, as demonstrated in chapters 1 and 2. In this context, the ideas of the "invisible hand" and "cheap government" were developed.

[Akio Hoshino]

"The Wealth of Nations, supervised by Kazuo Okochi (Chuko Bunko)" ▽ "The Wealth of Nations, translated by Hyoe Ouchi and Shichiro Matsukawa (Iwanami Bunko)" ▽ "An Introduction to The Wealth of Nations, by Akio Hoshino, Shigeji Wada, and Rei Yamazaki (Yuhikaku Shinsho)"

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

イギリスの経済学者アダム・スミスの主著。1776年刊。『諸国民の富』とも訳される。原書名は『An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations』（諸国民の富の性質と原因に関する研究）で、5編からなる。スミスの奥行の深い道徳哲学や自然法学のなかから生み出された書物であり、単なる経済学の古典にとどまらず、広く市民社会思想の古典としての位置を占めている。それゆえに、それは後の経済学に受け継がれただけでなく、ヘーゲルやマルクスによって一つの市民社会体系として受け止められた。日本近代史のなかでも、それは富国策としてばかりでなく、市民社会化の指針として受け入れられてきた。

　スミスは、この書で富の源泉を探究したが、当時は、重商主義の金銀貨幣＝富観と、重農学派の農業だけが富の源泉だという見方とが対立していた。スミスは、これに対して、年々の労働が富の源泉であり、したがって、一国の富は、第一に、農工商などの生産的労働における分業の細分化によって、第二に、生産的労働者を雇用する資本蓄積の度合いによって左右されるとみなした。そして、これを妨げている封建制や重商主義の停滞性・浪費性を批判した。全5編のうち1、2編は、分業、貨幣、価値、価格、分配、資本蓄積などの理論的分析を、3、4編は、封建的土地制度や重商主義の貿易・植民地政策の批判を、5編は、国家財政を主題としている。

　スミスにとって最大の問題は、根強い独占根性を有する一部の大商人・大製造業者の働きかけによって、国家の政策や立法が不当にゆがめられていることであった。そのため、植民地貿易などを通じて独占利潤が生じ、資本や労働の最適配置が妨げられ、総体としての富の増加が抑えられてしまう。また、その独占的貿易政策のため、友好国たるべきフランスと長期にわたる敵対状態に陥り、さらに、アメリカ独立戦争も起こってしまった。その経費をまかなうために赤字公債も累積しつつあった。したがって、1、2編で論証された自然的自由のあり方に即して政策や法を正すことが、3～5編を貫くスミスの課題であった。このような文脈のなかで「見えざる手」や「安価な政府」の観点が展開された。

［星野彰男］

『大河内一男監訳『国富論』全3冊（中公文庫）』▽『大内兵衛・松川七郎訳『諸国民の富』全5冊（岩波文庫）』▽『星野彰男・和田重司・山崎怜著『国富論入門』（有斐閣新書）』

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