The Wealth of Nations part 2 Author:Adam Smith An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations is one of the most important and influential works ever published on economic theory. A masterpiece of the eighteenth-century Scottish Enlightenment, it develops a theory of social order arising from the unintended consequences of self-interested behavior. This self-regulating system... more » of the free market, Smith contents, protects consumers from entrenched special interests and is usually harmed by government intervention.