The Wealth of Nations, 250 Years On

A walk through why Adam Smith’s 1776 classic still shapes how we think about prosperity, markets and the state in 2026. Smith’s big ideas (specialization and the division of labour, incentives and competition, the role of prices, and the institutional foundations that make growth sustainable) remain the backbone of modern economic reasoning, even as the questions have evolved to include industrial policy, inequality, globalisation shocks and the economics of new technologies. An accessible tour of the book’s enduring arguments, and how his framework helps us see India’s present economic choices more clearly.

Dr. Niranjan Rajadhyaksha (@CafeEconomics) is an economist, writer and policy researcher, currently Executive Director (Research & Strategy) at Artha Global. He is widely known for his long-running Café Economics column, and previously served as Executive Editor at Mint. His work sits at the intersection of macroeconomics, political economy and economic history.