I chose to look at the source The Wealth of Nations, by Adam Smith. This is cited by Stiglitz in "Rent Seeking and the Making of an Unequal Society." The Wealth of Nations was published in 1776, making it just as old as and deeply intertwining itself with America. This book outlines the modern capitalist economic theory; that the division of labor and the self interest of individuals will ultimately create economic prosperity through the laws of supply and demand.  In later volumes, Smith begins to describe how the wealthiness of nations may be measured objectively. Stiglitz quotes the concept of Adam Smith's "invisible hand", which is his notion that the forces of supply and demand are so powerful they can shape a society. The introduction of The Wealth of Nations, formally titled "An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations", begins by describing the contents of the following volumes of books. It uses a rather objective, bland tone, as if it were a textbook summary. It seems that Smith intended his volumes for an already educated audience, based on the elevated concepts and the immediate diving into abstract concepts from the first page of the first chapter. There seems to be a logical progression of ideas: The notion that a specialized worker is more productive leads to a society where productivity is optimized by division of labor, and so on. From this, it is reasonable to conclude that the book explores increasingly complex ideas as it progresses.  This book has and still does provide an extremely well rounded basis of economic theory and is useful in any context describing the interactions between individuals.

https://www.marxists.org/reference/archive/smith-adam/works/wealth-of-nations/intro.htm
Works Cited:
Smith, Adam. An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations. 1776. Accessed 20 October 2016.