Kirkcaldy- the birthplace, in 1723,of  Adam Smith and, by extension, of moderneconomics- is also, of course, where your Chancellor of the Exchequer was reared, I am led to ponder to what extent the Chancellor's renowned economic and financial skills are the result of exposure to the subliminal intellect-enhancing emanations of this area.

In the broad sweep of history, it is ideas that matter. Indeed ,the world is ruled by little else. As John Maynard Keynes famously observed: Practical men, who believe themselves to quite exempt from intellectual influences, are usually the slaves of some late econommist." Emperors and armies come and go; but unless they leave new ideas in their wake, they are of passing historic consequence.

The short list of intellectuals who hace matierially advanced the betterment of civilization unquestionably includes Adam Smith. He is a towering contributor to the development of the modern world.In his Wealth of Nations, Smith reached far beyond the insights of his predecessors to drame a global view of how market economies,just then emerging ,worked. In so ding ,he supported changes in societal organization that were to measurably enhance the world standads of living.

2.He concluded that ,to enhance the wealth of a nation, every man ,consistent with the law,should be " free to pursue his own interest his own way,and to bring both his industry and capital into competition with those of other men." "Is is not from the benevolence of the butcher ,the brewer, or the baker, that we expect our dinner, but from their regard to their own interest." The individual is drvien by private gain but is "led by an invisible hand" to promote the public good, "which was no part of his intention" This last insight is all the more extraordinary in that,for much of human history, acting in one's self-interest_ indeed,seeking to accumulate wealth-had been perceived as unseemly and was, in some instances,illegal.