Smith's Wealth of Nations

You can find The Wealth of Nations here amzn.to/3SQUak4
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Dr. Michael Sugrue earned his BA at the University of Chicago and PhD at Columbia University.

[@ss9392]

Was going through the Neoclassical lecture, still can't believe this is for no cost at all. Much respect and a sincere thank you!

[@mnmmnm8321]

@@markosdesta348 She also said that there is only love and work. She had heaps of good quotes but they reckon one of her boyfriends helped her come up with a lot of her witticisms. Also speculation she was a spy but who for and who really knows?

[@anesu846]

@@markosdesta348 I think that was more family than wifi

[@georgepsomas6257]

Wish he'd discuss ayn rand.

[@reasonerenlightened2456]

Demolition of Smith: THE FREE MARKET INEVITABLY LEADS TO EXTREME CONCENTRATION OF WEALTH BECAUSE IT ALWAYS BECOMES TRAGEDY OF THE COMMONS PROBLEM DUE TO THE RELENTNESS PURSUIT OF PROFIT IN A FREE ACCESS ENVIRONMENT. (The free market ALWAYS concentrates Wealth, because it is a battlefield and also because competition is unsustainable).

[@Laocoon283]

@@markosdesta348 like pssy

[@andresguzman8185]

This is arguably the best KZbin channel I've found in long time. Thanks for the quality material for we all non-philosopher philosophers

[@ronlu2952]

I cherish and am grateful for every lecture Dr.Sugrue has given as a 70 year old student! Thank you so much 🙏🙏🙏

[@braidenbianco]

Wow congrats to you for never ceasing to be a student at 70 years of age. Very very admirable and inspirational I wish the best to you

[@0_1_2]

Wow, you were alive when Adam Smith was writing the book! What was he like?

[@NarwhalSweat]

from a 22 year old, thank you michael

[@JosephusAurelius]

We 21st century humans with easy access to KZbin are immensely lucky to have access to university level education in a couple of clicks or taps. Thank you for these uploads that provide knowledge for the greater good

[@kestrel09]

These are tremendous lectures and go beyond what I’ve previously listened to. A true intellectual

[@HPLeft]

Great to see these vintage Teaching Company lectures make it to KZbin, since they are no longer available from either The Great Courses Plus or Wonderium. I learned a lot back in the day from listening to Professors Staloff and Sugrue.

[@JoeMmt347]

Dude is a genius. Stoked beyond imagination to listen.

[@mikemikel1629]

I've been looking for this video for 7 years. I've finally found it :)

[@mb8kr]

It's unbelievable to lecture at length without having notes on papers whatsoever.

[@paulmarr7873]

can you imagine the totality of hours spent reading?

[@Al-himathy]

@@paulmarr7873 exactly

[@BigVillyStyle]

And on such a vast range of subjects!

[@josephtrinkle3255]

Absolutely insane I agree. Great mind

[@AlexIsUber]

Didn't take a break for a second... he's extraordinary

[@thoughtsonphilosophy4903]

Such a great stuff. And for free! Wow, thank you so much, Dr. Sugrue.

[@robertgainer1395]

Having read some of the comments it appears I am rather late in pointing out that Adam Smith was not English but Scottish. Nonetheless, it does not diminish the lecture, which was yet again an intellectual edification. Thank you, Professor Sugrue, for sharing these wonderful lectures with us for free on the KZbin.

[@andyayala9119]

So was Kant

[@kenhutley971]

@@andyayala9119 "So was Kant". ???

[@thinkmackay8954]

I have attended a couple of universities and earned a couple of degrees, but you are definitely the best Prof I never had the luck to know in person but have learned a lot from your teaching. Thanks for uploading these lectures.

[@meldonellis1051]

Professor Michael Sugrue’s lecturing skills are outstanding and his breadth of knowledge is massive. How does he present one lecture after another, transversing the Western Canon of literature and humanities and economics without referring to a single note?

[@BCC288]

was just thinking about this. really impressive

[@TheZigzagman]

When you sing a song you like and know well, do you have to use a cheat sheet?

[@BCC288]

@@TheZigzagman terrible analogy

[@TheZigzagman]

@@BCC288 Is it? What would you have chosen to illustrate the almost reflexive recall of a rigid structure with set points of emphasis combined with mostly spontaneous connective tissue?

[@BCC288]

just quit while you’re behind. the pseudo intellectual rhetoric isn’t working

[@zb5775]

It’s mind boggling how he can deliver a lecture of such complexity and depth **without** any notes, and ad lib … truly outstanding and extraordinary.

[@chriscosby2459]

Professor Sugrue was great, he could break down theories into easy to understand explanations.

[@Aq5CiQRkiq]

Please keep these coming, and then up on your channel!

[@Olmirz]

Honestly, your presentation ability is an art form. I think this is as close as it gets as plugging my brain into Wikipedia and clicking download... its phenomenal. Thank you 🙏🙏

[@matttejada7381]

I'm listening to his lectures before going to sleep and while working out, this is one of the best YT channels I've found in 2023.

[@jondeadman7689]

Looking forward to this one. Thank you Dr Sugrue for sharing your amazing lectures with us all :)

[@Hevletica]

Didn't blink once during this presentation. I watched the whole thinking while taking notes. Impressive class by Mr. Sugrue!

[@royceivanailaomc1853]

Professor, I have attended much of your lectures. No notes, no side cards, no PPT. This is mastery. ❤❤❤ Watching from The 🇵🇭

[@ambassadorkwan8182]

Well-timed, Sir,

[@thattimestampguy]

8:27 Space & Time Transportation Canals, Roads Production Increase Government Interference BAD, Limits Markets Monopolies, Protective Tariffs 11:10 Natural Equilibrium “The Invisible Hand.” 25:57 Mass Production, Mass Consumption, Declining Marginal Utility 28:07 Henry Ford 29:54 Government: Stay Out Of Economics More of everything More happiness 31:56 Social Cohesion, Common Set of Sentiments 32:57 Feeling of sympathy 33:03 _Homo Economicus_ 34:04 The Behavior of Markets 36:14 Economics, and Math. Predictive Power.

[@Cyrus52]

Well done!

[@MohorMom]

THANK YOU!

[@toddavis8603]

A natural equilibrium btw supply and demand= INVISIBLE HAND.Henry Disston and Sons my favorite Industrialist.Sawmaker founded 1840◆

[@thebioreligiotomist1939]

I love these lectures. Thanks for preserving such intellectual tradition and making them handy for us. I'm sold as a subscriber!

[@AbdulWahab-df9rk]

Dr is just wow, I am a big fan of him

[@2009Artteacher]

Always a learned experience to listen to the Dr

[@Olmirz]

After listening to the lectures on Plato's Republic, I really see you as a Socrates figure sharing out humanities collective wisdom. Thank you 🙏🙏

[@erwindouwes7043]

This is just so much free knowledge so eloquently packed, we're so lucky to have modern technology and this great guy putting his soul into his lectures. 10/10.

[@droopy_911]

What a treasure trove I've found..love and regards from india

[@ipeteagles]

Timeless still, Dr. Thanks for sharing.

[@anthenehbeze.]

Such an incredible talented Professor.

[@chrisknutson31]

Tell your dad he's an Intellectual Pillar of Perfection. Such a great communicator. I've owned his Great Courses for 22 years. Interesting to finally put a face to that voice.

[@kenhutley971]

Just... Thank You... Thank You, Dr Sugrue.

[@merken2024]

Amaziiiinnnngggggg!!! I'm currently reading Adam Smith's WON and this talk is a cherry on the icing

[@llJRLL1979ll]

I rarely have so many ah ha moments as listening to these lectures. Thanks again

[@ryans3001]

Thank You!

[@rahulram7263]

Pure gold❤️❤️❤️

[@georgefisher9304]

I have never seen in any one of this gentleman's lectures, notes in front of him. Amazing and unbelievable.

[@ikaeksen]

One of the best.

[@jeromedenis100]

A brilliant lecture...All done without notes....

[@Cocomixermachine]

RIP, you great man

[@Blunttalker]

Just to let you know that you've helped my mind a great deal. Thanks for the education.

[@arterial]

i really like the engaging style and knowledge of the good Dr. There is some major 1990s era 'End of History' optimism built into it the thought. I'd be fascinated as to what his discourse would be if delivering on some of those subjects today.

[@christinemartin63]

Il Professore has a knack for gleaning the essence of a complex work and, with a great economy of words, clarifying it. Bra--vo! I feel I got an enhanced Cliff's Notes version of a masterpiece.

[@gospoda7599]

Nice lecture as always!

[@MrMarktrumble]

Thank you

[@smartacus1393]

National treasure.. Academia should insure Dr. Sugrue’s intellect for a $billion ! Health and Happiness to you!!

[@jameslovell5721]

This dude is unbelievable

[@globalistatistik1489]

many thanks

[@mrcheckhammmer]

Brilliant. I am using this for my presentation on Adam Smith. Have to shorten the info to 10 minutes :D

[@Crazeyfor67]

These lectures are all that and more. :0)

[@coreyebersole931]

Really loving these lectures. Thank you for sharing. My only regret is I can’t visit him during office hours to discuss my follow up questions.

[@janne-valtteri2629]

I would love to see a serious discussion with Dr Sugrue and Dr Niall Ferguson on what ever topic they choose

[@albertoscalici8235]

Lovely!

[@seansolidworks4736]

I’ve been going through all of your lectures recently and you’re works are brilliant and enlightening. Wait… is this your actual channel doc?

[@doodlebug1820]

The irony is that the most efficient modern factories do not view workers as unskilled. The Toyota Production System for example

[@slimmamba7208]

Commendable.

[@cahlendavidson2921]

I didn't even know lecturers of this caliber existed

[@benlessard74]

Awesome lectures, Ford raise the salary to 5$ a day not per hour, obviously it was a huge increase but he had huge employe rotation so it wasnt generosity, but the spirit of mass consumption is there.

[@realistblue-_-136]

15:35 “economic discipline” translates to conformity

[@ChocolateMilkCultLeader]

Given how much companies have found ways to squeeze out wealth, I'd say smith was spot on about the ability for companies to collude. Michael missed how much asset inflation could be used to manipulate the economics

[@brad606]

Wow, thank you Professor. I doubt I'd ever have read this book, but now I might. Seems to me Smith's division of labor paved the way for Babbage and Lovelace's primitive computers of the 1820s, and for computerized automation all the way up to cloud computing.

[@excitedaboutlearning1639]

I'm not familiar with Babbage and Lovelace's contributions to modern computational theory, but I have something to say. It's a personal remark. When I understood the concepts of variable, function, input, algorithm & output, I could see the mechanics of the world in new light. Previously on, I had found physics equations impossibly hard to grasp, but then I finally understood the relations that things have with each other and how to model those relations mathematically. I think variable is an extremely powerful concept when you've grasped it's abstract meaning as opposed to only being able figure out unknowns in equations. For a long time, I could solve for x and y, but I didn't understand what x and y were.

[@TheRealMrMustache]

Philosophy and economics should be on the core curriculum at every grade level

[@conservativelibertarian]

then the Marxists would take over

[@georgefisher9304]

Mmm, that would require the self-discipline and seriousness that i am not sure most young people are either capable or willing to exercise.

[@jmarinotripp240]

24:50 PhD Sugrue stops himself from saying “they hang around eachother”. good catch

[@TheCommonS3Nse]

The economist Anwar Shaikh has a very good economic theory that addresses the issues surrounding monopolies and collusion between capitalists. He argues that the competition between businesses has nothing to do with rational monopolies looking to exercise their control and collude with other businesses to keep wages low. Instead, his theory of Real Competition argues that companies compete as if they are at war. They will do whatever they have to do to push their competitors out of the market. If that means lowering their wages in order to price their competitor out of the market, then they will do that. If it means investing in newer technology that will make their workforce more productive, they will do that. His theories actually correspond very well with real world economic trends.

[@wordsnexttoeachother]

yep

[@devinmcmanus]

I'd love to hear Dr. Sugrue's ideas about how AI might change society today.

[@scienceknight5122]

nice

[@MarktheMole]

Adam Smith's twin books are really exercises in psychology - with a bit of economics thrown in.. "Group selfishness maximises total community wealth.."

[@lebogangncongwane4298]

There's still a lot to know of

[@ideologybot4592]

Henry Ford paid $5 a day, not $5 an hour. Also, Adam Smith was not English, he was Scottish. Otherwise, brilliant lecture that puts Wealth of Nations and economics generally into excellent context.

[@TheZigzagman]

That's almost a thousand dollars a week adjusted for inflation. Not too shabby.

[@ideologybot4592]

@@TheZigzagman it's a great wage. Wasn't paid to everyone, and the working conditions were hardcore, but it was the start of middle class factory wages, which is why it makes sense to put it in this lecture. It only matters because I don't want people getting the idea that Ford was paying $5 an hour in 1925. That would be insane.

[@conservativelibertarian]

​​@@TheZigzagman $1 in 1929 is equivalent in purchasing power to about $17.33 today, an increase of $16.33 over 93 years. The dollar had an average inflation rate of 3.11% per year between 1929 and today, producing a cumulative price increase of 1,632.81%. 17.33$x 5 x 7 days a week = 606.55$ a week adjusted for inflation. 31,540.60$ a year. That's a subsistence level wage.

[@TheZigzagman]

@@conservativelibertarian Henry Ford's policy was put in place in 1914, friend. That's 148 a day adjusted for inflation. That's 1,036 in 7 days. Take off the roughly 10 federal holidays and throw in a week of non-working days and that's the equivalent of 50,000 a year. Which it most certainly wouldn't be in 1929 because the Ford company pioneered the 5 day, 40 hour work week in 1926. I think you googled the wrong thing.

[@conservativelibertarian]

​​​​@@TheZigzagman In 1929, the average annual wage for auto workers was $1639. That's from the Ford hunger march wikipedia page. en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ford_Hunger_March#:~:text=In%201929%2C%20the%20average%20annual,were%20113%20suicides%20in%20Detroit. 1639$ x 17.33 inflation rate = 28,403$ annual salary adjusted for inflation.

[@user-hu3iy9gz5j]

Although I understand and partly sympathize with your disclaimer about the ”free markets are natural” argument, I think there’s another side to this that you overlook. Often it is the case that this point is mentioned in an economic context as a reaction to claims about the opression that the free market supposedly causes. For instance; the minimum wage is artificially inflating lower wages above their market value and minimum wage laws are for that reason ”unnatural” by some economic standards

[@OverOnTheWildSide]

Smith assumed it’s better for everyone to have 10 crappy pens than for most people to have one high quality pen.

[@butosi25]

I would be very interested to hear Dr. Sergue’s thoughts on Leo Strauss (particularly his political philosophy, and how said philosophy influenced U.S. Neoconservatism). Is anything like that extant?

[@dr.michaelsugrue]

Dad said Strauss was dead when he arrived at U of C but he studied with the usual suspects. He found out that Bloom's interpretative essay got book 5 of the Republic wrong and believes that East Coast Straussians (like right wing Hegelians) are more consistent with the master's thought but West Coast Straussians (like left wing Hegelians) misread the master in more fruitful and important and interesting ways.

[@citycrusher9308]

@@dr.michaelsugrue @20:00 onwards - W men didn't gain equality in the age of machinery(they already had that). They gained more rights than men. Please don't spread naive propaganda. It sullies the lecture. Thank you

[@reasonerenlightened2456]

@@dr.michaelsugrue Demolition of Smith: THE FREE MARKET INEVITABLY LEADS TO EXTREME CONCENTRATION OF WEALTH BECAUSE IT ALWAYS BECOMES TRAGEDY OF THE COMMONS PROBLEM DUE TO THE RELENTNESS PURSUIT OF PROFIT IN A FREE ACCESS ENVIRONMENT. (The free market ALWAYS concentrates Wealth, because it is a battlefield and also because competition is unsustainable).

[@ashutoshmanidixit6944]

As the machine age roared to life, it didn't just replace muscle with metal; it redefined muscle altogether, blurring the lines between 'men's work' and 'women's work.' The factory floor became an unexpected battleground for gender equality!

[@biologydoesntlie4093]

Can you please upload the machiavelli lecture? I enjoyed that one a lot. Thanks a lot for your time.

[@ckchristos]

me too . Machiavelli please. Loveee them so much.

[@RobinHood-yk8og]

Another fantastic lecture, but a couple of points... The pre-industrial economy did _not_ consist of men in the fields, forests & quarries whilst the women and children were at home tending to the rose garden and embroidery. _All_ pre-industrial economies consisted of men, women & children out in the fields, forests & quarries together, trying to eke out what meagre living they might from the world around them. Relevant caveats for the ruling elites. What is claimed about the effects of factories on the position of women in the workplace is almsot 180 from reality. Women began to disappear from the workplace. Not due to the nature of factories but due to the moral sentiments of the legislators and their lobbyists... "it isn't seemly in this day & age, that a woman should work in such conditions". It was only with the increase of factories the Industrial Revolution brought about, that legislation to limit the working time (and earning capacity) of women and children was either thinkable - there's no reason for a Factory Act until you've invented a factory and factory conditions; or affordable - the wealth factories create was/is a necessary pre-condition to _any_ attempt at Welfarism.

[@metroidfighter90]

25:57 I think the answer to that question is a resounding and obvious yes.

[@user-hu3iy9gz5j]

That whole ”rebuttal” is based on circular logic. It is true that higher wages is good for the market, yes. It is also true that individual buisnesses will benefit from this in the long run. It’s the ”minimal levels” that flactuate, not the strive to keep them in place Wages have not been artificially inflated, but only followed the trend of general wealth increases in Society over time

[@Isaaxz123]

Damn, people were super optimistic about their elites back in the 90s.

[@zootjitsu6767]

Love Sugrue, probably my fav channel on KZbin. But at 37:54 how can you just skim over China when it is the most populated country and a force to be reckoned with?

[@robcampbell6320]

A great lecture marred by a lack of understanding that Adam Smith was in fact Scottish not English.

[@conorscott3167]

Adam Smith was not English, he was Scottish. I always find it strange when people who have clearly read and studied someone's work in such great detail that they can make such a glaring error.

[@jackanderson719]

There are alot of monopolies today. Is that the problem and if so what should be done about it?

[@jacuzzistyles5997]

Is there a lecture on Bernard de mandeville

[@spcphd]

Smith was Scottish, not English. Americans may not think the difference is significant, but the Scots surely do.

[@cch312]

What are some important differences? I don't know a lot about that and it sounds interesting. Would you mind sharing?

[@cinnamon4605]

@@cch312 there are unofficial enemy states.

[@mnmmnm8321]

Jevon, from Jevons Paradox, was also Scottish.

[@spcphd]

@@cch312 The Welsh, Irish, and Scots have had ethnic differences and territorial disputes with the (Anglo-Saxon) British for centuries. Check out the history of Scotland to learn about it. If you want to have some fun, watch the movie Braveheart.

[@perimetrfilms]

Wealth for the few. Poverty for the wage slaves. Trevithick was the key to stean engines on rails. Technology drives all change.

[@JB-ru4fr]

How can any economic structure be critiqued or assessed without addressing central banking? Adam Smith maybe talks indirectly when speaking about collusion, but I cannot see how international banking does not have its hand in both capitalism and communism.

[@user-hu3iy9gz5j]

The snake is biting its tail

[@Thesilverthunder777]

Mega

[@davidfost5777]

I'm always looking for new interesting lectures on Psychology/Philosophy, please let me know if you guys have any recommendations, would be highly appreciated

[@cch312]

All of Dr. Sugrue will do you good. He has a casual podcast with his daughter, just chat about philosophy. I also like Jordan Peterson's interpretation of a lot of existentialist ideas.

[@bacchusinstituteofscience8650]

Look up people that talk about Niklas Luhmann, Julian Jaynes and Robert K Merton for a good start.

[@Timmerdetimmerdetim]

15:00 [As the level of skill in our workers declines] I'd argue the level of skill changes, from a broad to a more narrow and specialised set.

[@user-hu3iy9gz5j]

Smith even mentions this in Wealth of Nations, that overall skill levels actually increase with the division of labour. At least for specialized and monotone jobs. He exemplifies by comparing rural farmers to urban industrial workers. The farmer will not be able to perfect all the varying skills involved in the duties of his labour, yet he must nevertheless perform these tasks by virtue of being a lone worker. Alongside this, the farmers are forced to switch between brief tasks, moving across large areas, switching gear, which slows the process significantly, while industrial workers could do this all simultainiously at different locations. So even if the farmer has a greater set of general skills he will be outcompeted at almost all of the individual tasks by his many infustrial counterparts

[@alfredhitchcock45]

1. Division of labor 2. Accumulation of capital 3. Economic history of the West

[@mr.wrongthink.1325]

When was this lecture given?

[@darrellee8194]

Are there transcripts of these lectures?

[@tommyXBOX360]

His argument around the 28:00 mark is fallacious. Employers don't benefit from giving an employee a higher wage in the hope he might use some of that extra money to buy products from the store. Getting a rebate on a gift is not the same as turning a profit. People often refer to Henry Ford raising the wages for his autoworkers as the prime example of this theory. He increased the wages because the turn-over rate was very high and combined with the fact educating your employees was costly at the time he decided to give them a substantially higher wage in the hope they would stay.

[@reclusedoggo3513]

Also, perhaps he disregarded the fact that you could as it companies do with a better wage enlish the better labourers the smart workers to optimize that production

[@user-hu3iy9gz5j]

It’s strange how many brilliant minds miscomprahend economics

[@daddymcsnacks_561]

Now we just need to define "a rationale person."

[@NYsummertimeCHI]

I’m wondering when these were filmed?

[@existentialcharactor2802]

A comment to feed the algorithm

[@justinlevy274]

27:00 example of the toasters is perfectly applicable to Bezos supporting the $15 minimum wage as he replaces his employees with robotics.

[@alfredhitchcock45]

Mercantilism 1. Natural causes - space and time, distance 2. Conventional causes 3. Government interference - laissez faire - invisible hand - natural equilibrium

[@user-vg7zv5us5r]

34:20 And then you have Dalton's law for a ideal gas metaphor