Adam Smith's American Empire Prediction

In the 1770s, Scottish economist Adam Smith made a bold prediction that Britain’s 13 American colonies would one day break away and defeat the British Empire. Writing in "The Wealth of Nations" in 1776, he argued that their rapid population growth, resources, and commercial energy would eventually outstrip Britain’s power to control them. Smith further predicted that the former colonies would go on to form a great empire in their own right. History played out along those lines as the United States won independence from Britain and grew into a major global power.

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