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An Economics Exhibit

The World's Wealth

Dealing with Spatial Dimensions of Inequ... (by Islam, Iyanatul)
The Wealth of Nations (by Adam Smith)
Records from Erech, Time of Nabonidus (5... (by Dougherty, Raymond Philip)
Sumerian Tablets from Umma in the John R... (by Bedale, Charles Lees)
The Economic Consequences of the Peace (by Keynes, John Maynard)
Oeconomicus (by Xenophon, of Athens)
Capital : A Critique of Political Econom... (by Marx, Karl)
The Industrial Revolution (by Beard, Charles Austin)
Life of Adam Smith (by Rae, John)
Principles of Economics : Volume 1 (by Alfred Marshall)

The World's Wealth: An Economics Exhibit

This virtual exhibit offers significant insight into the money, economic theories and political influence on economies. The historical economic discoveries and records of common men and great economists alike have been preserved in a treasure trove of works and documents in the World’s Wealth Exhibit. A focused exploration into historical documents within our Collection will give readers a sound foundation for understanding of government, society and finance processes.

Ancient Economics

According to the World Heritage Encyclopedia, the discipline of Economics "focuses on the behavior and interactions of economic agents and how economies work." Traditionally, the study of economics is the study of the way individuals and societies best use limited resources to satisfy their wants and needs both at the macro and micro levels (“Economics,” World Heritage Encyclopedia). Throughout history, mankind has approached the processes that govern the production, distribution and consumption of resources with a variety of methods...some more in agreement with our current perception of morality than others.

Records from Erech, Time of Nabonidus (555-538 B.C.), Volume 6 by Raymond P. Dougherty documents the experiences of agricultural slaves in Babylon during the reign of the last Neo-Babylonian king, Nabonidus. They lived long, cruel days under the scorching sun; ploughing, sowing, reaping and threshing (Records from Erech, Time of Nabonidus (555-538 B.C.), Volume 6, Raymond Philip Dougherty). In addition, they were sold. The book, Sumerian Tablets from Umma in the John Rylands Library, Manchester, describes when a sale occurred, a receipt of purchase would be drawn up on a small clay tablet for your former owner (The Sumerian Tablets from Umma, Charles Lees Bedale). This clay receipt would have represented some of the first records of monetary exchange in the history of mankind (“Economics,” World Heritage Encyclopedia).

The most treasured discoveries made by the greatest minds in the history of economic thought are rendered somewhat lifeless beside a record of the daily suffering endured by a common slave hand in Babylon (Records from Erech, Time of Nabonidus (555-538 B.C.), Volume 6, Raymond Philip Dougherty). It is this connection to documents and records, detailing humanity’s cruelty in some cases, which makes so relevant the importance of fair economic law and practice today.

Measurement

Immoral economic practices are often a product of trying to address the problem of resource scarcity in a society (“Economics,” World Heritage Encyclopedia). The problem of scarcity is addressed at length by 18th-century Scottish economist and philosopher Adam Smith, whose most famous work, The Wealth of Nations, is often referred to as the bible of capitalism ("Adam Smith," World Heritage Encyclopedia).

Smith believed that when an individual pursues his or her self-interest, they indirectly promote the good of society and solve many of the problems associated with scarcity (The Wealth of Nations, Adam Smith). Smith contended that self-interested competition in the free market would tend to benefit society as a whole by keeping prices low, while still building in an incentive for a wide variety of goods and services ("Adam Smith," World Heritage Encyclopedia).

Before Smith wrote the book, world economic theory measured a country’s wealth by its store of gold, silver and other precious metals. Smith argued that a nation’s wealth should not be judged thus but rather by the total of its production and commerce - what we know today as gross domestic product (The Wealth of Nations, Adam Smith).

It took Smith nine long years to write the book, which is believed to be the first work dedicated to the study of political economics ("The Wealth of Nations" World Heritage Encyclopedia). Life of Adam Smith describes Smith was on his deathbed, regretting that he hadn’t accomplished more (Life of Adam Smith, John Rae). Even so, his philosophies and contributions to economic thought have often been credited, such as in The Industrial Revolution by Charles Austin Beard, for forging the path to prosperity that characterized the western world in the 19th-Century.

Today

Alfred Marshall, a British economist born in 1842, learned from many of Smith’s discoveries and yet disagreed with Smith on several points. Specifically he argued that man should be equally as important as money and that there must be an emphasis on human welfare, instead of just wealth. Marshall saw that the duty of economics was to improve material conditions, but believed that such improvement would only occur in partnership with social and political forces (“Alfred Marshall,” World Heritage Encyclopedia).

Marshall’s greatest success was an economic text called The Principles of Economics, Volume 1. This work sought to reconcile the classical and modern theories of value to create a decisive and comprehensive tool for economic instruction ("The Principles of Economics," World Heritage Encyclopedia). Much of the success of Marshall’s teaching and The Principles of Economics book was derived from his effective use of diagrams such as his supply and demand graph (The Principles of Economics, Alfred Marshall). His models and graphs gave later economists more effective means from which to learn and teach and are still utilized in educational settings today. Perhaps more importantly, Marshall’s brief references to the social and cultural relations in the industrial districts of England were used as a starting point for late twentieth century work in economic geography ("Alfred Marshall," World Heritage Encyclopedia). Another book in our collection titled, Dealing with Spatial Dimensions of Inequality in Indonesia: Towards a Social Accord notes that today, surveys and other statistical analysis help us to identify uneven or insufficient resource distribution within a given geographical area or people group and make adjustments accordingly (Dealing with Spatial Dimensions of Inequality in Indonesia: Towards a Social Accord, Iyanatul Islam).

Resource scarcity remains a problem for the common man in the 21st-Century but we are privileged access to the wisdom of the greatest minds who have come before us and to the authentic stories of men and women who have lived lives as full of struggle and hardship as our own.

Works Cited

"Adam Smith." World Heritage Encyclopedia. WorldLibrary.org. Web. 2014.

"Alfred Marshall." World Heritage Encyclopedia. WorldLibrary.org. Web. 2014.

Bedale, Charles Lees. Sumerian Tablets from Umma in the John Rylands Library, Manchester. Manchester: The University Press, 1915.

Dougherty, Raymond Philip. Records from Erech, Time of Nabonidus (555-538 B.C.). Volume 6. New Haven: Yale University Press, 1920.

“Economics.” World Heritage Encyclopedia. WorldLibrary.org. Web. 2014.

Islam, Iyanatul. Dealing with Spatial Dimensions of Inequality in Indonesia: Towards a Social Accord. The World Bank, 2003.

Marshall, Alfred. Principles of Economics. Volume 1. London: Macmillan Publishers, 1890.

Rae, John. Life of Adam Smith. London: Macmillan Publishers, Ltd., 1895.

Smith, Adam. The Wealth of Nations. London: Methuen, 1904.

Economics Collections

It has been said that money makes the world go 'round. It's certainly clear that the men and women behind the world's wealth both drive society forward and at times cause it to regress.

The World’s Wealth Exhibit shelves thousands of relevant digital works from collections all over the world including:

Top 100 books on Economics

Communist Manifesto (by Marx, Karl)
The Theory of Moral Sentiments (by Smith, Adam)
King Coal (by Sinclair, Upton)
Tableau Oeconomique (by François Quesnay)
An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of... (by Smith, Adam)
Principles of Economics : Volume 1 (by Alfred Marshall)
Two Treatises of Civil Government (by Locke, John)
The Collapse of Capitalism (by Cahn, Herman)
Jungle, The (by Sinclair, Upton)
A Treatise on Political Economy : Or the... (by Jean Baptiste Say)
The Jungle (by Sinclair, Upton)
Religion and the Rise of Capitalism Capi... (by R. H. Tawney)
The Morality of Capitalism
Autobiography of Mother Jones, The (by Jones, Mary Harris)
The Economics of Welfare (by Pigou, Arthur Cecil)

Commerce

Possible compromises on various items.; ... Volume JCX-27-84 (by United States. Congress. Joint Committee on Taxati...)
Etchings & Engravings; Choice Artists Pr... (by Christie, Manson and Woods)
Defense Space Activities Additional Acti... (by General Accounting Office)
Trade in Goods and Services (Graph Chart... (by Department of Commerce)
Seamen's Bank for Savings, 546 5Th Ave.,... (by Schleisner, Gottscho)
The Economics of Conservation Agricultur... (by Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Na...)
Acceptances, Trade and Bankers' (by Mathewson, Park)
Remarks on currency and banking; having ... (by Appleton, Nathan)
To Transfer Tbilisi from a City on the C... (by The World Bank)
Identification of the Economic Woods of ... (by Samuel James Record)
The Year 2000 Compliance Effort at the U... (by Crowley, Michael S.)
Rebuttal Testimony of the Greeting Card ... (by Snyder, Russell K.)
The Distribution of Wealth; (by Cope, Rufus.)
The Law of Fire Insurance
Die Reichsfinanznot, Und die Pflichten d... (by Wagner, Adolph)

Department of Commerce Collection

Columbia Dress Rehearsal Identifies Need... (by Holmes, James F.)
Cac Bao Ve Cua Lien Bang Truoc Su Phan B... (by Department of Commerce)
Survey of Current Business August 1991 G... (by Department of Commerce)
I Special Edition I Cinco de Mayo (by Department of Commerce)
American Indian, Alaska Native Tables fr... (by Department of Commerce)
Unmarried and Single Americans Week (by Department of Commerce)
International Trade Administration Us an... (by Department of Commerce)
Total U.S. Exports (Origin of Movement) ... (by Department of Commerce)
Total U.S. Exports (Origin of Movement) ... (by Department of Commerce)
International Trade Administration Spain... (by Department of Commerce)
Confidential Certificate of No New Inter... (by Department of Commerce)
Before the Committee on Government Refor... (by Frazier, Johnnie E.)
Ensuring Full Compliance with the Inform... (by Graham, John D., Dr.)
Bureau of the Census Public Awareness Ca... (by Prewitt, Kenneth)
Sach Huong Dan Nhsp Tich (by Department of Commerce)

Economics Publications Collection

United States of America before Federal ... (by Landrey, Francis D.)
Kagera Health and Development Survey Que... (by The World Bank)
United States of America Federal Trade C... (by Thompson, Mozelle W.)
Cases Eudoro Armando Olguin V. Republic ... (by Flores, Gonzalo)
Variable Labe 1 (by The World Bank)
United States District Court Southern Di...
Re: Telemarketing Rulemaking - Comments ... (by Satell, Edward)
Can-Spam Act Rulemaking, Project No. R41... (by Federal Trade Commission)
Statistical Summary (by United States. Bureau of Agricultural Economics)
Click Here Computrade (by Stein, Elizabeth)
United States District Court District of... (by Federal Trade Commission)
Hegel's Logic : An Essay in Interpretati... (by Hibben, John Grier)
International Bank for Reconstruction an... (by The World Bank)
16 Cfr Part 453 (by Davis, Charles E.)
United States of America before the Fede... (by Kocot, S. Lawrence)

Export and Trade Collection

Hong Kong (by Bruno, Dawn)
Export America (by Churches, Cory)
Iraq Weekly Status Report (by Federal Trade Commission)
Iraq Weekly Status Report (by Federal Trade Commission)
Water Supply and Wastewater Treatment Ma... (by Federal Trade Commission)
New Zealand (by Struneski, Lisa)
E Is for Exports (by Kriz, Danielle)
The First Interior Air Purification Prod... (by Ying, Liu)
Iraq Weekly Status Report (by Federal Trade Commission)
American Chamber of Commerce of Iraq (by Scott, Ward E.)
Export America (by Barry, Doug)
Notes and Errata (by Federal Trade Commission)
Genuine Alaska : Native Art
Telecommunications and Information Techn... (by Henry, John)
Flavoring the World (by Cultice, Curt)

Federal Trade Commission

American Bar Association (by Joseph, Robert T.)
Greater Washington Commercial Associatio... (by Cassidy, Brendan)
United States District Court Western Dis... (by Federal Trade Commission)
United States of America Federal Trade C...
Re: Can-Spam Act Rulemaking, Project No.... (by Donnalley, Joe)
Agency : Federal Trade Commission (by Szafran, Marc E.)
Three Rivers Association of Realtors (by Gano, Dennis)
(by Federal Trade Commission)
United States District Court for the Cen... (by Krebs, John A.)
Check Fraud : A Guide to Avoiding Losses...
United States of America before Federal ... (by Shaftel, Hal S., Esq.)
Before the Federal Trade Commission (by Scott, Richard L.)
Federal Trade Commission for the Fiscal ... (by Pertschuk, Michael)
United States of America before Federal ... (by Mcguire, Stephen J.)
United States of America Federal Trade C... (by Spears, James M.)

Small Business Administration Collection

Audit Checklist for the Growing Business (by Armstrong, Terry R.)
Standards of Conduct and Employee Restri... (by Small Business Administration)
Selling by Mail Order (by Small Business Administration)
Small Business Administration Pt. 126 (by Small Business Administration)
The Economic Impact of Small Businesses (by Small Business Administration)
Challenges in Managing a Family Business (by Small Business Administration)
Appendix to Part 145 : Covered Transacti... (by Small Business Administration)
Introduction to Strategic Planning (by Policastro, Michael L.)
Business Plan for the Small Construction... (by Small Business Administration)
Debt Collection through Offset (by Small Business Administration)
The Surety Bond Guarantee Program (by Small Business Administration)
Small Business Administration (by Small Business Administration)
Fixed-Asset Loans for Small Businesses (by Small Business Administration)
U.S. Small Business Administration (by Small Business Administration)
Rules of Procedure Governing Cases befor... (by Small Business Administration)

Finance

Coolidge, Pinal County, Arizona Casa Gra... (by Library of Congress)
Mohave County Miner : Volume 1, Dec 1895 (by A.H. Smith & Co.)
Prevention of Perinatal Group B Streptoc... (by Department of Health and Human Services)
Germania : A Monthly Magazine for the St...
Untitled : Photograph 8C03517V, 1935 (by Library of Congress)
Deep Space Telecommunications Systems En... (by NON)
Community-Based Contracting : A Review o... (by De Silva, Samantha)
Daughter of Pomp Hall, Negro Tenant Farm... (by Library of Congress)
Official Table of Distances for the Guid... (by United States. War Department)
Federal Income Tax; A Plain Presentation... (by Craven, Bruce)
England and the Englishman in German Lit... (by John Alexander Kelly)
Bimetallism Bondage or Blood. The Money ... (by Montgomery, Zachariah)
Rail Fence Around Pasture and Grazing La... (by Library of Congress)
Yakima Indian Village, on the Columbia R... (by Library of Congress)
Rural Children at Rfd Box, Near Fruitlan... (by Library of Congress)