The Enlightenment Practice Test

In Britain, a writer in the 1770s argues that individuals pursuing their own economic interest in competitive markets can unintentionally promote overall prosperity. He criticizes monopolies and excessive regulation, suggesting that prices and production are best coordinated through voluntary exchange. Which Enlightenment-era economic idea is most directly reflected here?

A late-eighteenth-century critic claims that European writers often judge other societies by European standards, ignoring local contexts. He argues that travel accounts and comparative studies should be used to question assumptions about “natural” social arrangements in Europe, including slavery and rigid class hierarchy. This approach most closely reflects which Enlightenment trend?