The Wealth of Nations — Adam Smith (1776)

The Wealth of Nations is the founding text of modern economics, arguing that free market exchange guided by the "invisible hand" of price signals allocates resources more efficiently than central planning. Adam Smith’s analysis of the division of labour, the nature of money, and free trade principles supplied the ideological framework for capitalism. The book remains the most cited economic text in history, with over 40,000 academic references since 2000 — a figure 20% higher than the runner-up in economic citations. It is cheaper than the typical rival in terms of influence per page.