Adam Smith and ‘The Wealth of Nations’ Book 2

Join Russell Dale to read and discuss the works of Adam Smith in this ongoing study group. As of January 2026, the group is reading Book 2 of Smith’s The Wealth of Nations, which takes up the nature and functioning of capital. Smith’s notion of capital was important to Marx in the development of Marx’s understanding of capital, and Marx frequently quoted from Book 2 in his discussions in “Capital” and other writings.

We will read the Oxford University Press edition of the work; the full title is An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations (1976; General editors: R. H. Campbell and A. S. Skinner; textual editor: W. B. Todd). The book has been republished by The Liberty Fund and made widely available in a two-volume photographic reproduction edition.

Russell Dale taught philosophy at Lehman College, CUNY, for many years but is now retired. He has been a collaborator of the Marxist Education Project since its inception. He is on the Editorial Board of the Marxist journal Science & Society.