The main point of "The Wealth of Nations" is that human nature is self-interested, and the pursuit of personal interests is the only motivation for people to engage in economic activities. At the same time, people are rational. As rational economic persons, people can obtain the greatest personal benefits from their personal economic activities.

The book "The Wealth of Nations" laid the theoretical foundation of capitalist free economy. The publication of this book marked the establishment of the theoretical system of classical political economics and can be called the "Bible" of Western economics.

The main research content of "The Wealth of Nations".

"The Wealth of Nations" mainly studies the nature, composition, accumulation and use of capital. In this article, it was the first to clearly explain that the composition of capital can be divided into fixed capital and circulating capital, distinguish productive labor from unproductive labor, and discuss the various forms of capital, namely loan capital, industrial capital and commercial capital. distinction between. The first two articles basically include all the contents of Smith's theory of political economy.