Television news often begins with money news and modern economics traces its origins to Adam Smith and the most famous book about economics – The Wealth of Nations.
Adam Smith was one of the leaders of the so called Scottish Enlightenment and was the foremost political economist of the 18th Century.
Smith was born in the county of Fife in Scotland in 1723. His father, a customs official, died prior to his birth and at the age of four Smith was abducted by gypsies. He was rescued and returned to his mother. Smith was apparently an exceptional student and entered the University of Glasgow to study moral philosophy at the age of 14. After three years at Glasgow, the 17-year old Smith won a scholarship to Balliol College, Oxford and moved south to England. Despite spending six years at Oxford, Smith would later complain of the poor teachers and the general low level of instruction, especially compared to universities in Scotland.
Back on Scotland, Smith began delivering public lectures on "the progress of opulence," and the economic ideas that would eventually feature in Wealth of Nations. In 1750, Smith met the philosopher David Hume and forged a friendship based on their shared philosophical approach to politics, philosophy and economics.
Smith entered the world of academia in 1751 when he became chair of logic at the University of Glasgow. In 1759, he published “The Theory of Moral Sentiments” based largely on his Glasgow lectures. The Theory established Smith’s reputation as a significant philosopher of the age.
Regarded as an eccentric, Smith never married and spent large parts of his life living with his mother.  
Smith now turned to jurisprudence and economics in his lectures but after five more years as a professor he resigned his position to spend two years touring France with one of his students. Smith returned to his hometown of Kirkcaldy in 1766 and spent the next 10 years on working on the book that would become The Wealth of Nations.  
The book was published in 1776 and was a success and cemented his reputation as a leading thinker of the Enlightenment and introduced economics as a subject of serious philosophical examination.
In 1778 Smith returned to work and he was appointed first as commissioner of customs and then as Lord Rector of the University of Glasgow. He died in Edinburgh in 1790.

Wealth of Nations
 
The Wealth of Nations is considered to be the birth of the field of economics as an autonomous discipline.
The book has become the most famous book on the subject and was both a success at the time and hugely influential. The Wealth of Nations was the first articulated defense of free market policies. Smith argued against theory of mercantilism, which held that large reserves of gold were essential for economic success. Smith’s theories were not immediately accepted and the British government remained convinced of the efficacy of mercantilism well into the 19th Century. However the American War of Independence, which began in the same year as the book’s publication in 1776 brought forth a very strong sentiment for free trade on both sides of the Atlantic.  
The Wealth of Nations also shifted the importance of wealth creation from the ownership of land to the management of labour.  With the Industrial Revolution in full swing Smith understood that labour can increase production. Smith discussed the importance of the division of labour and how that can significantly increase production. However, Smith also understood the social costs that boring factory jobs can have on a population and he called for public education to help offset the potential downside of factory labour
Perhaps the most famous concept within The Wealth of Nations is the idea of the ‘invisible hand,’ which states that the free market is not a chaotic free-for-all but one that follows self regulating laws of supply and demand and pricing.
Smith understood that man’s natural tendencies can be toward greed and selfishness but that a free market will mitigate the worst excesses by regulating prices. He also suggested that to maintain this freedom of markets it is important to regulate against monopolies.
That said, The Wealth of Nations does argue against undue government interference in the market. Tariffs and other government encumbrances interfere with the market and hinder industrial growth. Smith believed that there was a role for government in protecting the market through foreign policy, reasonable taxation. laws that protect merchants and industry and public education that would encourage a better work force and innovation.