The Industrial Revolution is a process which brought many changes in eighteenth century England and later in the rest of the world, which essence is the substitution of competition for the medieval regulations which had previously controlled the production and distribution of wealth. Competition is based on the laws of free marketing. In this period two systems of thought developed: Economic Sciences and Socialism. The former is a field of free marketing which leads the start of competition. The latter is in antithesis with the previous one.

Economic Sciences is characterized by four landmarks which describe the development of this thought. All these landmarks are books. The first one is Adam Smith’s “Wealth of Nations”, published in 1776, which analyzes the causes of wealth on a national scale. The second one is Malthus’ “Essay on Populations”, wrote in 1798, which concentrated itself on the causes of poverty. The third is “Principles of Political Economy and Taxations” wrote by Ricardo in 1817. It showed how wealth is distributed under a system of freedom. The last one is John Stuart Mill’s “Principles of Political Economy”, published in 1848. It underlines the differences between the laws of production and those of distribution. Mill analyzes how wealth ought to be distributed.

Two main facts of the Industrial revolution are: the growth of population and the decline in rural population. The former is due to the destruction of the common field system of cultivation, to the enclosure and to the consolidation of small farms into large. Agricultural advances of that time caused a more scientific approach which includes the breed of cattle, rotation of crops, the steam plough and agricultural societies.

There was also a growth of industry due to the mechanical inventions in textile industry, the mechanical revolution in iron industry, the improvement of means of communication and the substitution of factory system to domestic system. Some inventions of that time are: spinning jenny; water frame; self-acting mule; cotton mill, steam engine; power loom; smelting by pit-coat; roads and railroads.

The revolution includes also the distribution of wealth. There was a rise in rents caused by: the effect of the enclosure system, money invested in improvements, the consolidation of farms and the high price of corn.

All these revolutions brought many changes in country life and in manufacturing world: farmers became a rich, distinct class, and old relations between masters and men disappeared. So a “cash nexus” was substituted for the human tie and trade Unions began. Misery which came upon working people in this period was due to the conditions of labour, the rise of price and the fluctuations of trade. In conclusion free competition may produce wealth without producing well-being.