March 28: Pins and Other Points (Vol. 10: pp. 9-17)

We get the opening to Adam Smith's "Wealth of Nations" today, and one can see even from this snippet why his work endures as one of the cornerstones of modern economic theory. His prose is clear and unburdened by the florid style that afflicts most 18th century writers.

This selection looks at the early attempts at mechanized production, in this case, making pins. Here is where we learn about important economic principles such as the division of labor and how mechanization improved the lot of workers while increasing production.