Second to none but perhaps Karl Marx, Adam Smith was the philosopher who gave the first accurate picture of the workings of capitalism. This is the economic system which can be described as one "run by the free market and competitive forces for selfish economic gain." Smith wrote one of the most compelling arguments to disband government barriers against the economics of capital and competition, arguing a policy of government non-intervention with trade. In which, he established an intruiging case for the future promise of free-market capitalism, a system of economics based on the control of production by forces of popular appeal and buying capacity, in which the flow of revenue from such sale would be a cyclical process of profit and reinvestment (In otherwords, a breakdown of capitalism). Although some of the altruistic forces Smith mentioned soon became problems to the extent that government intervention was the only way out, his philosophy is still very relevant today as the first comprehensive analysis of the most successful economic system up-to-date, affecting the writing of all economic thinkers following him, most notably Marx and other socialist intellectuals.
Smith's philosophy, as described in his book entitled Wealth of Nations (1776), is fairly straight forward to understand, yet has very powerful analyses of the capitalistic system of even today. His first premise was that increase in economic growth would only occur with free trade, meaning the removal of all national and mercantile obstacles. Government, according to Smith, would be necessary only for defense, internal security, law-making, and judicial ruling. A smaller government was a better government economically, due to the fact that less regulation would mean more trade. In addition, Smith believed that the state was a harmful part of the economy if involved in innovation and enterprise, for only private concerns and the competition between each state could produce the best technological improvement.