Answer:
According to Adam Smith, self-interest is important because it dictates a competitive economy and allows all individuals to perform their best to increase their own personal gain.
Step-by-step explanation:
In economics, self-interest is the idea that the best economic benefit for all can usually be accomplished when individuals act in their own self-interest.
In economics, self-interest is not necessarily good or bad. According to proponents of Adam Smith's theory, if all actors act in their own self-interest, the economy will be for the better.
Adam Smith was among the first philosophers of his time to declare that wealth is created through productive labor, and that self-interest motivates people to put their resources to the best use. He argued that profits flowed from capital investments, and that capital gets directed to where the most profit can be made.