...AN INQUIRY INTO THE NATURE AND CAUSES OF THE WEALTH OF NATIONS by Adam Smith A PENN STATE ELECTRONIC CLASSICS SER... ...CTRONIC CLASSICS SERIES PUBLICATION An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations by Adam Smith is a publication of the Pennsylvania... ...sity. This Portable Document file is furnished free and without any charge of any kind. Any person using this document file, for any purpose, and in a... ...th of Nations lished with so much parade, and from which our merchants and manufacturers would often vainly pretend to announce the pros- perity or de... ...rise of profit operates like com- pound interest. Our merchants and master manufacturers com- plain much of the bad effects of high wages in raising t... ...he policy of Europe considers the labour of all mechanics, artificers, and manufacturers, as skilled labour; and that of all coun- try labourers us co... ...en much improved. England, Holland, France, and 172 The Wealth of Nations Germany; even Sweden, Denmark, and Russia, have all advanced considerably, ... ... purveyance has been entirely abolished. It still sub- sists in France and Germany. The public taxes, to which they were subject, were as irregular an... ...npowder, seems to have given occasion. In modern war, the great expense of firearms gives an evident advantage to the nation which can best afford tha...

Excerpt: An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations by Adam Smith.

...Contents INTRODUCTION AND PLAN OF THE WORK .......................................................................... 8 BOOK I OF THE CAUSES OF IMPROVEMENT IN THE PRODUCTIVE POWERS OF LABOUR, AND OF THE ORDER ACCORDING TO WHICH ITS PRODUCE IS NATURALLY DIS...