In 1776, Adam Smith published The Wealth of Nations and laid the intellectual foundation for how markets, specialization, and capital investment drive prosperity.

Two hundred and fifty years later, we're standing at the front edge of what many are calling the most consequential economic transformation since industrialization: the rise of artificial intelligence and autonomous systems.

Smith's framework is remarkably useful for understanding what's happening.

It's also, in a few critical places, completely inadequate.