The Lawspeaker
04-06-2009, 03:08 PM
An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations
By Adam Smith (1776)
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/1a/Wealth_of_Nations.jpg
TABLE OF CONTENTS
BOOK ONE - OF THE CAUSES OF IMPROVEMENT IN THE PRODUCTIVE POWERS OF LABOUR, AND OF THE ORDER ACCORDING TO WHICH ITS PRODUCE IS NATURALLY DISTRIBUTED AMONG THE DIFFERENT RANKS OF THE PEOPLE.
Book One Introduction (http://www.adamsmith.org/smith/won-b1-intro.htm)
Chapter 1 - Of The Division of Labour (http://www.adamsmith.org/smith/won-b1-c1.htm)
Chapter 2 - Of the Principle which gives occasion to the Division of Labour (http://www.adamsmith.org/smith/won-b1-c2.htm)
Chapter 3 - That the Division of Labour is limited by the Extent of the Market (http://www.adamsmith.org/smith/won-b1-c3.htm)
Chapter 4 - Of the Origin and Use of Money (http://www.adamsmith.org/smith/won-b1-c4.htm)
Chapter 5 - Of the Real and Nominal Price of Commodities, or their Price in Labour, and their Price in Money (http://www.adamsmith.org/smith/won-b1-c5.htm)
Chapter 6 - Of the Component Parts of the Price of Commodities (http://www.adamsmith.org/smith/won-b1-c6.htm)
Chapter 7 - Of the Natural and Market Price of Commodities (http://www.adamsmith.org/smith/won-b1-c7.htm)
Chapter 8 - Of the Wages of Labour (http://www.adamsmith.org/smith/won-b1-c8.htm)
Chapter 9 - Of the Profits of Stock (http://www.adamsmith.org/smith/won-b1-c9.htm)
Chapter 10 - Of Wages and Profit in the different Employments of Labour and Stock (http://www.adamsmith.org/smith/won-b1-c10.htm)
Chapter 10 - Part 1 - Inequalities arising from the Nature of the Employments themselves (http://www.adamsmith.org/smith/won-b1-c10-pt-1.htm)
Chapter 10 - Part 2 - Inequalities by the Policy of Europe (http://www.adamsmith.org/smith/won-b1-c10-pt-2.htm)
Chapter 11 - Of the Rent of Land (http://www.adamsmith.org/smith/won-b1-c11.htm)
Chapter 11 - Part 1 - Of the Produce of Land which always affords Rent (http://www.adamsmith.org/smith/won-b1-c11-part-1.htm)
Chapter 11 - Part 2 - Of the Produce of Land which sometimes does, and sometimes does not, afford Rent (http://www.adamsmith.org/smith/won-b1-c11-part-2.htm)
Chapter 11 - Part 3 - Of the Variations in the Proportion between the respective Values of that Sort of Produce ... (http://www.adamsmith.org/smith/won-b1-c11-part-3.htm)
Chapter 11 - Tables referred to in Chapter 11, Part 3 (http://www.adamsmith.org/smith/won-b1-c11-tables.htm)
Chapter 11 - Digressions concerning the variations in the value of silver during the course of the last four centuries (http://www.adamsmith.org/smith/won-b1-c11-digressions-1.htm)
Chapter 11 - - - First Period (http://www.adamsmith.org/smith/won-b1-c11-digressions-1.htm)
Chapter 11 - - - Second Period (http://www.adamsmith.org/smith/won-b1-c11-digressions-2.htm)
Chapter 11 - - - Third Period (http://www.adamsmith.org/smith/won-b1-c11-digressions-3.htm)
Chapter 11 - Variations in the proportion between the respective values of gold and silver (http://www.adamsmith.org/smith/won-b1-c11-digressions-variations.htm)
Chapter 11 - Grounds of the suspicion that the value of silver still continues to decrease (http://www.adamsmith.org/smith/won-b1-c11-digressions-grounds.htm)
Chapter 11 - Different effects of the progress of improvement upon three different sorts of rude produce (http://www.adamsmith.org/smith/won-b1-c11-different-effects-1st.htm)
Chapter 11 - - - First Sort (http://www.adamsmith.org/smith/won-b1-c11-different-effects-1st.htm)
Chapter 11 - - - Second Sort (http://www.adamsmith.org/smith/won-b1-c11-different-effects-2nd.htm)
Chapter 11 - - - Third Sort (http://www.adamsmith.org/smith/won-b1-c11-different-effects-3rd.htm)
Chapter 11 - Conclusion of the Digression concerning variations in the value of silver (http://www.adamsmith.org/smith/won-b1-c11-conclusion-of-the-digression.htm)
Chapter 11 - Effects of the progress of improvement upon the real price of manufactures (http://www.adamsmith.org/smith/won-b1-c11-effects-of-the-progress.htm)
Chapter 11 - Conclusion of the Chapter (http://www.adamsmith.org/smith/won-b1-c11-conclusion-of-the-chapter.htm)
BOOK TWO - OF THE NATURE, ACCUMULATION, AND EMPLOYMENT OF STOCK
Book Two Introduction (http://www.adamsmith.org/smith/won-b2-intro.htm)
Chapter 1 - Of The Division of Stock (http://www.adamsmith.org/smith/won-b2-c1.htm)
Chapter 2 - Of Money considered as a particular Branch of the general Stock of the Society ... (http://www.adamsmith.org/smith/won-b2-c2.htm)
Chapter 3 - Of the Accumulation of Capital, or of Productive and Unproductive Labour (http://www.adamsmith.org/smith/won-b2-c3.htm)
Chapter 4 - Of Stock Lent at Interest (http://www.adamsmith.org/smith/won-b2-c4.htm)
Chapter 5 - Of the Different Employment of Capitals (http://www.adamsmith.org/smith/won-b2-c5.htm)
BOOK THREE - OF THE DIFFERENT PROGRESS OF OPULENCE IN DIFFERENT NATIONS
Chapter 1 - Of the Natural Progress of Opulence (http://www.adamsmith.org/smith/won-b3-c1.htm)
Chapter 2 - Of the Discouragement of Agriculture in the ancient State of Europe after the Fall of the Roman Empire (http://www.adamsmith.org/smith/won-b3-c2.htm)
Chapter 3 - Of the Rise and Progress of Cities and Towns after the Fall of the Roman Empire (http://www.adamsmith.org/smith/won-b3-c3.htm)
Chapter 4 - How the Commerce of the Towns Contributed to the Improvement of the Country (http://www.adamsmith.org/smith/won-b3-c4.htm)
BOOK FOUR - OF SYSTEMS OF POLITICAL ECONOMY
Book Four Introduction (http://www.adamsmith.org/smith/won-b4-intro.htm)
Chapter 1 - Of the Principle of the Commercial, or Mercantile System (http://www.adamsmith.org/smith/won-b4-c1.htm)
Chapter 2 - Of Restraints upon the Importation from Foreign Countries of such Goods as can be produced at Home (http://www.adamsmith.org/smith/won-b4-c2.htm)
Chapter 3 - Of the extraordinary Restraints upon the Importation of Goods of almost all kinds from those Countries ... (http://www.adamsmith.org/smith/won-b4-c3-pt-1.htm)
Chapter 3 - Part 1 - Of the Unreasonableness of those Restraints even upon the Principles of the Commercial System (http://www.adamsmith.org/smith/won-b4-c3-pt-1.htm)
Chapter 3 - Part 1 - Digression concerning Banks of Deposit, particularly concerning that of Amsterdam (http://www.adamsmith.org/smith/won-b4-c3-pt-1-digression.htm)
Chapter 3 - Part 2 - Of the Unreasonableness of those extraordinary Restraints upon other Principles (http://www.adamsmith.org/smith/won-b4-c3-pt-2.htm)
Chapter 4 - Of Drawbacks (http://www.adamsmith.org/smith/won-b4-c4.htm)
Chapter 5 - Of Bounties (http://www.adamsmith.org/smith/won-b4-c5.htm)
Chapter 5 - Digression concerning the Corn Trade and Corn Laws (http://www.adamsmith.org/smith/won-b4-c5-digression.htm)
Chapter 6 - Of Treaties of Commerce (http://www.adamsmith.org/smith/won-b4-c6.htm)
Chapter 7 - Of Colonies (http://www.adamsmith.org/smith/won-b4-c7-pt-1.htm)
Chapter 7 - Part 1 - Of the Motives for establishing new Colonies (http://www.adamsmith.org/smith/won-b4-c7-pt-1.htm)
Chapter 7 - Part 2 - Causes of Prosperity of New Colonies (http://www.adamsmith.org/smith/won-b4-c7-pt-2.htm)
Chapter 7 - Part 3 - Of the Advantages which Europe has derived from the Discovery of America ... Passage to the East Indies ... (http://www.adamsmith.org/smith/won-b4-c7-pt-3.htm)
Chapter 8 - Conclusion of the Mercantile System (http://www.adamsmith.org/smith/won-b4-c8.htm)
Chapter 9 - Of the Agricultural Systems, or of those Systems of Political Economy which represent the Produce of Land ... (http://www.adamsmith.org/smith/won-b4-c9.htm)
BOOK FIVE - OF THE REVENUE OF THE SOVEREIGN OR COMMONWEALTH
Chapter 1 - Part 1 - Of the Expenses of the Sovereign or Commonwealth (http://www.adamsmith.org/smith/won-b5-c1-pt-1-ss1.htm)
Chapter 1 - - - Of the Expense of Defence - Militia (http://www.adamsmith.org/smith/won-b5-c1-pt-1-ss1.htm)
Chapter 1 - - - Of the Expense of Defence - Standing Army (http://www.adamsmith.org/smith/won-b5-c1-pt-1-ss2.htm)
Chapter 1 - Part 2 - Of the Expense of Justice (http://www.adamsmith.org/smith/won-b5-c1-pt-2.htm)
Chapter 1 - Part 3 - Of the Expense of Public Works and Public Institutions (http://www.adamsmith.org/smith/won-b5-c1-pt-3.htm)
Chapter 1 - Article 1 - Of the Public Works and Institutions for facilitating the Commerce of the Society ... (http://www.adamsmith.org/smith/won-b5-c1-article-1-ss1.htm)
Chapter 1 - - - Of those which are necessary for facilitating Commerce in general (http://www.adamsmith.org/smith/won-b5-c1-article-1-ss1.htm)
Chapter 1 - - - Of the Public Works and Institutions which are necessary for facilitating particular Branches of Commerce (http://www.adamsmith.org/smith/won-b5-c1-article-1-ss2.htm)
Chapter 1 - - - Joint Stock Companies (http://www.adamsmith.org/smith/won-b5-c1-article-1-ss3.htm)
Chapter 1 - Article 2 - Of the Expense of the Institutions for the Education of Youth (http://www.adamsmith.org/smith/won-b5-c1-article-2-ss1.htm)
Chapter 1 - - - Modern Institutions for Education (http://www.adamsmith.org/smith/won-b5-c1-article-2-ss1.htm)
Chapter 1 - - - Different Plans in Different Nations (http://www.adamsmith.org/smith/won-b5-c1-article-2-ss2.htm)
Chapter 1 - - - Education of Women (http://www.adamsmith.org/smith/won-b5-c1-article-2-ss3.htm)
Chapter 1 - Article 3 - Of the Expense of the Institutions for the Instruction of People of all Ages (http://www.adamsmith.org/smith/won-b5-c1-article-3-ss1.htm)
Chapter 1 - - - Chiefly those for religious instruction (http://www.adamsmith.org/smith/won-b5-c1-article-3-ss1.htm)
Chapter 1 - - - Austere or Liberal Schemes (http://www.adamsmith.org/smith/won-b5-c1-article-3-ss2.htm)
Chapter 1 - - - Collation of Power in Europe to the Pope (http://www.adamsmith.org/smith/won-b5-c1-article-3-ss3.htm)
Chapter 1 - - - Declension of the authority of the Church of Rome (http://www.adamsmith.org/smith/won-b5-c1-article-3-ss4.htm)
Chapter 1 - - - The Lutheran and Calvinistic sects following the Reformation (http://www.adamsmith.org/smith/won-b5-c1-article-3-ss5.htm)
Chapter 1 - - - University vs Church Benefices (http://www.adamsmith.org/smith/won-b5-c1-article-3-ss6.htm)
Chapter 1 - - - Revenue for education (http://www.adamsmith.org/smith/won-b5-c1-article-3-ss7.htm)
Chapter 1 - Part 4 - Of the Expense of Supporting the Dignity of the Sovereign - AND - Conclusion (http://www.adamsmith.org/smith/won-b5-c1-pt-4.htm)
Chapter 2 - Of the Sources of the General or Public Revenue of the Society (http://www.adamsmith.org/smith/won-b5-c2.htm)
Chapter 2 - Part 1 - Of the Funds or Sources of Revenue which may peculiarly belong to the Sovereign or Commonwealth (http://www.adamsmith.org/smith/won-b5-c2-pt-1.htm)
Chapter 2 - Part 2 - Of Taxes (http://www.adamsmith.org/smith/won-b5-c2-pt-2.htm)
Chapter 2 - Article 1 - Taxes upon Rent. Taxes upon the Rent of Land (http://www.adamsmith.org/smith/won-b5-c2-article-1-ss1.htm)
Chapter 2 - - - Taxes which are proportioned, not to the Rent, but to the Produce of Land (http://www.adamsmith.org/smith/won-b5-c2-article-1-ss2.htm)
Chapter 2 - - - Taxes upon the Rent of House (http://www.adamsmith.org/smith/won-b5-c2-article-1-ss3.htm)
Chapter 2 - Article 2 - Taxes on Profit, or upon the Revenue arising from Stock (http://www.adamsmith.org/smith/won-b5-c2-article-2-ss1.htm)
Chapter 2 - - - Taxes upon Profit of particular Employments (http://www.adamsmith.org/smith/won-b5-c2-article-2-ss2.htm)
Chapter 2 - Appendix to Articles 1 and 2 - Taxes upon the Capital Value of Land, Houses, and Stock (http://www.adamsmith.org/smith/won-b5-c2-appendix-to-articles-1-2.htm)
Chapter 2 - Article 3 - Taxes upon the Wages of Labour (http://www.adamsmith.org/smith/won-b5-c2-article-3.htm)
Chapter 2 - Article 4 - Taxes which, it is intended, should fall indifferently upon every different Species of Revenue (http://www.adamsmith.org/smith/won-b5-c2-article-4-ss1.htm)
Chapter 2 - - - Capitation Taxes (http://www.adamsmith.org/smith/won-b5-c2-article-4-ss1.htm)
Chapter 2 - - - Taxes upon Consumable Commodities (http://www.adamsmith.org/smith/won-b5-c2-article-4-ss2.htm)
Chapter 2 - - - The Mercantile System (http://www.adamsmith.org/smith/won-b5-c2-article-4-ss3.htm)
Chapter 2 - - - Tax on Fermented and Spirituous liquors (http://www.adamsmith.org/smith/won-b5-c2-article-4-ss4.htm)
Chapter 2 - - - Customs and Excise Duties (http://www.adamsmith.org/smith/won-b5-c2-article-4-ss5.htm)
Chapter 2 - - - Absentee Tax (http://www.adamsmith.org/smith/won-b5-c2-article-4-ss6.htm)
Chapter 2 - - - Taxes on Luxury Goods (http://www.adamsmith.org/smith/won-b5-c2-article-4-ss7.htm)
Chapter 2 - - - Comparisons with other Countries (http://www.adamsmith.org/smith/won-b5-c2-article-4-ss8.htm)
Chapter 2 - - - Administration of Tax Collecting (http://www.adamsmith.org/smith/won-b5-c2-article-4-ss9.htm)
Chapter 3 - Of Public Debts (http://www.adamsmith.org/smith/won-b5-c3-ss1.htm)
Chapter 3 - - - Public Borrowing (http://www.adamsmith.org/smith/won-b5-c3-ss1.htm)
Chapter 3 - - - Defraying the cost of War (http://www.adamsmith.org/smith/won-b5-c3-ss2.htm)
Chapter 3 - - - The rise of the Public Debt (http://www.adamsmith.org/smith/won-b5-c3-ss3.htm)
Chapter 3 - - - Dealing with the Public Debt (http://www.adamsmith.org/smith/won-b5-c3-ss4.htm)
Chapter 3 - - - Growth in Capital (http://www.adamsmith.org/smith/won-b5-c3-ss5.htm)
Chapter 3 - - - Sources of Revenue (http://www.adamsmith.org/smith/won-b5-c3-ss6.htm)
Chapter 3 - - - Inflation (http://www.adamsmith.org/smith/won-b5-c3-ss7.htm)
Chapter 3 - - - Stamp Duties (http://www.adamsmith.org/smith/won-b5-c3-ss8.htm)
Chapter 3 - Appendix (http://www.adamsmith.org/smith/won-b5-c3-appendix.htm)
PREFACE
The Adam Smith Institute is proud to present the full text of Adam Smith's great book, The Wealth of Nations, online.
This remarkable book was published in 1776, at a time when the power of free trade and competition as stimulants to innovation and progress was scarcely understood. Governments granted monopolies and gave subsidies to protect their own merchants, farmers and manufacturers against 'unfair' competition. The guilds operated stern local cartels: artisans of one town were prevented from travelling to another to find work. Local and national laws forbade the use of new, labour-saving machinery.
And, not surprisingly to us today, poverty was accepted as the common, natural, and inevitable lot of most people.
Adam Smith railed against this restrictive, regulated, 'mercantilist' system, and showed convincingly how the principles of free trade, competition, and choice would spur economic development, reduce poverty, and precipitate the social and moral improvement of humankind. To illustrate his concepts, he scoured the world for examples that remain just as vivid today: from the diamond mines of Golconda to the price of Chinese silver in Peru; from the fisheries of Holland to the plight of Irish prostitutes in London. And so persuasive were his arguments that they not only provided the world with a new understanding of the wealth-creating process; they laid the intellectual foundation for the great era of free trade and economic expansion that dominated the Nineteenth Century.
The Wealth of Nations changed our understanding of the economic world just as Newton's Principia changed our understanding of the physical world and Darwin's Origin of Species. And now, it is here online, for you to read, and enjoy.
Dr. Aemmon Butler
Director of the Adam Smith Institute
London 2001
SOURCE (http://www.adamsmith.org/smith/won-index.htm)
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By Adam Smith (1776)
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/1a/Wealth_of_Nations.jpg
TABLE OF CONTENTS
BOOK ONE - OF THE CAUSES OF IMPROVEMENT IN THE PRODUCTIVE POWERS OF LABOUR, AND OF THE ORDER ACCORDING TO WHICH ITS PRODUCE IS NATURALLY DISTRIBUTED AMONG THE DIFFERENT RANKS OF THE PEOPLE.
Book One Introduction (http://www.adamsmith.org/smith/won-b1-intro.htm)
Chapter 1 - Of The Division of Labour (http://www.adamsmith.org/smith/won-b1-c1.htm)
Chapter 2 - Of the Principle which gives occasion to the Division of Labour (http://www.adamsmith.org/smith/won-b1-c2.htm)
Chapter 3 - That the Division of Labour is limited by the Extent of the Market (http://www.adamsmith.org/smith/won-b1-c3.htm)
Chapter 4 - Of the Origin and Use of Money (http://www.adamsmith.org/smith/won-b1-c4.htm)
Chapter 5 - Of the Real and Nominal Price of Commodities, or their Price in Labour, and their Price in Money (http://www.adamsmith.org/smith/won-b1-c5.htm)
Chapter 6 - Of the Component Parts of the Price of Commodities (http://www.adamsmith.org/smith/won-b1-c6.htm)
Chapter 7 - Of the Natural and Market Price of Commodities (http://www.adamsmith.org/smith/won-b1-c7.htm)
Chapter 8 - Of the Wages of Labour (http://www.adamsmith.org/smith/won-b1-c8.htm)
Chapter 9 - Of the Profits of Stock (http://www.adamsmith.org/smith/won-b1-c9.htm)
Chapter 10 - Of Wages and Profit in the different Employments of Labour and Stock (http://www.adamsmith.org/smith/won-b1-c10.htm)
Chapter 10 - Part 1 - Inequalities arising from the Nature of the Employments themselves (http://www.adamsmith.org/smith/won-b1-c10-pt-1.htm)
Chapter 10 - Part 2 - Inequalities by the Policy of Europe (http://www.adamsmith.org/smith/won-b1-c10-pt-2.htm)
Chapter 11 - Of the Rent of Land (http://www.adamsmith.org/smith/won-b1-c11.htm)
Chapter 11 - Part 1 - Of the Produce of Land which always affords Rent (http://www.adamsmith.org/smith/won-b1-c11-part-1.htm)
Chapter 11 - Part 2 - Of the Produce of Land which sometimes does, and sometimes does not, afford Rent (http://www.adamsmith.org/smith/won-b1-c11-part-2.htm)
Chapter 11 - Part 3 - Of the Variations in the Proportion between the respective Values of that Sort of Produce ... (http://www.adamsmith.org/smith/won-b1-c11-part-3.htm)
Chapter 11 - Tables referred to in Chapter 11, Part 3 (http://www.adamsmith.org/smith/won-b1-c11-tables.htm)
Chapter 11 - Digressions concerning the variations in the value of silver during the course of the last four centuries (http://www.adamsmith.org/smith/won-b1-c11-digressions-1.htm)
Chapter 11 - - - First Period (http://www.adamsmith.org/smith/won-b1-c11-digressions-1.htm)
Chapter 11 - - - Second Period (http://www.adamsmith.org/smith/won-b1-c11-digressions-2.htm)
Chapter 11 - - - Third Period (http://www.adamsmith.org/smith/won-b1-c11-digressions-3.htm)
Chapter 11 - Variations in the proportion between the respective values of gold and silver (http://www.adamsmith.org/smith/won-b1-c11-digressions-variations.htm)
Chapter 11 - Grounds of the suspicion that the value of silver still continues to decrease (http://www.adamsmith.org/smith/won-b1-c11-digressions-grounds.htm)
Chapter 11 - Different effects of the progress of improvement upon three different sorts of rude produce (http://www.adamsmith.org/smith/won-b1-c11-different-effects-1st.htm)
Chapter 11 - - - First Sort (http://www.adamsmith.org/smith/won-b1-c11-different-effects-1st.htm)
Chapter 11 - - - Second Sort (http://www.adamsmith.org/smith/won-b1-c11-different-effects-2nd.htm)
Chapter 11 - - - Third Sort (http://www.adamsmith.org/smith/won-b1-c11-different-effects-3rd.htm)
Chapter 11 - Conclusion of the Digression concerning variations in the value of silver (http://www.adamsmith.org/smith/won-b1-c11-conclusion-of-the-digression.htm)
Chapter 11 - Effects of the progress of improvement upon the real price of manufactures (http://www.adamsmith.org/smith/won-b1-c11-effects-of-the-progress.htm)
Chapter 11 - Conclusion of the Chapter (http://www.adamsmith.org/smith/won-b1-c11-conclusion-of-the-chapter.htm)
BOOK TWO - OF THE NATURE, ACCUMULATION, AND EMPLOYMENT OF STOCK
Book Two Introduction (http://www.adamsmith.org/smith/won-b2-intro.htm)
Chapter 1 - Of The Division of Stock (http://www.adamsmith.org/smith/won-b2-c1.htm)
Chapter 2 - Of Money considered as a particular Branch of the general Stock of the Society ... (http://www.adamsmith.org/smith/won-b2-c2.htm)
Chapter 3 - Of the Accumulation of Capital, or of Productive and Unproductive Labour (http://www.adamsmith.org/smith/won-b2-c3.htm)
Chapter 4 - Of Stock Lent at Interest (http://www.adamsmith.org/smith/won-b2-c4.htm)
Chapter 5 - Of the Different Employment of Capitals (http://www.adamsmith.org/smith/won-b2-c5.htm)
BOOK THREE - OF THE DIFFERENT PROGRESS OF OPULENCE IN DIFFERENT NATIONS
Chapter 1 - Of the Natural Progress of Opulence (http://www.adamsmith.org/smith/won-b3-c1.htm)
Chapter 2 - Of the Discouragement of Agriculture in the ancient State of Europe after the Fall of the Roman Empire (http://www.adamsmith.org/smith/won-b3-c2.htm)
Chapter 3 - Of the Rise and Progress of Cities and Towns after the Fall of the Roman Empire (http://www.adamsmith.org/smith/won-b3-c3.htm)
Chapter 4 - How the Commerce of the Towns Contributed to the Improvement of the Country (http://www.adamsmith.org/smith/won-b3-c4.htm)
BOOK FOUR - OF SYSTEMS OF POLITICAL ECONOMY
Book Four Introduction (http://www.adamsmith.org/smith/won-b4-intro.htm)
Chapter 1 - Of the Principle of the Commercial, or Mercantile System (http://www.adamsmith.org/smith/won-b4-c1.htm)
Chapter 2 - Of Restraints upon the Importation from Foreign Countries of such Goods as can be produced at Home (http://www.adamsmith.org/smith/won-b4-c2.htm)
Chapter 3 - Of the extraordinary Restraints upon the Importation of Goods of almost all kinds from those Countries ... (http://www.adamsmith.org/smith/won-b4-c3-pt-1.htm)
Chapter 3 - Part 1 - Of the Unreasonableness of those Restraints even upon the Principles of the Commercial System (http://www.adamsmith.org/smith/won-b4-c3-pt-1.htm)
Chapter 3 - Part 1 - Digression concerning Banks of Deposit, particularly concerning that of Amsterdam (http://www.adamsmith.org/smith/won-b4-c3-pt-1-digression.htm)
Chapter 3 - Part 2 - Of the Unreasonableness of those extraordinary Restraints upon other Principles (http://www.adamsmith.org/smith/won-b4-c3-pt-2.htm)
Chapter 4 - Of Drawbacks (http://www.adamsmith.org/smith/won-b4-c4.htm)
Chapter 5 - Of Bounties (http://www.adamsmith.org/smith/won-b4-c5.htm)
Chapter 5 - Digression concerning the Corn Trade and Corn Laws (http://www.adamsmith.org/smith/won-b4-c5-digression.htm)
Chapter 6 - Of Treaties of Commerce (http://www.adamsmith.org/smith/won-b4-c6.htm)
Chapter 7 - Of Colonies (http://www.adamsmith.org/smith/won-b4-c7-pt-1.htm)
Chapter 7 - Part 1 - Of the Motives for establishing new Colonies (http://www.adamsmith.org/smith/won-b4-c7-pt-1.htm)
Chapter 7 - Part 2 - Causes of Prosperity of New Colonies (http://www.adamsmith.org/smith/won-b4-c7-pt-2.htm)
Chapter 7 - Part 3 - Of the Advantages which Europe has derived from the Discovery of America ... Passage to the East Indies ... (http://www.adamsmith.org/smith/won-b4-c7-pt-3.htm)
Chapter 8 - Conclusion of the Mercantile System (http://www.adamsmith.org/smith/won-b4-c8.htm)
Chapter 9 - Of the Agricultural Systems, or of those Systems of Political Economy which represent the Produce of Land ... (http://www.adamsmith.org/smith/won-b4-c9.htm)
BOOK FIVE - OF THE REVENUE OF THE SOVEREIGN OR COMMONWEALTH
Chapter 1 - Part 1 - Of the Expenses of the Sovereign or Commonwealth (http://www.adamsmith.org/smith/won-b5-c1-pt-1-ss1.htm)
Chapter 1 - - - Of the Expense of Defence - Militia (http://www.adamsmith.org/smith/won-b5-c1-pt-1-ss1.htm)
Chapter 1 - - - Of the Expense of Defence - Standing Army (http://www.adamsmith.org/smith/won-b5-c1-pt-1-ss2.htm)
Chapter 1 - Part 2 - Of the Expense of Justice (http://www.adamsmith.org/smith/won-b5-c1-pt-2.htm)
Chapter 1 - Part 3 - Of the Expense of Public Works and Public Institutions (http://www.adamsmith.org/smith/won-b5-c1-pt-3.htm)
Chapter 1 - Article 1 - Of the Public Works and Institutions for facilitating the Commerce of the Society ... (http://www.adamsmith.org/smith/won-b5-c1-article-1-ss1.htm)
Chapter 1 - - - Of those which are necessary for facilitating Commerce in general (http://www.adamsmith.org/smith/won-b5-c1-article-1-ss1.htm)
Chapter 1 - - - Of the Public Works and Institutions which are necessary for facilitating particular Branches of Commerce (http://www.adamsmith.org/smith/won-b5-c1-article-1-ss2.htm)
Chapter 1 - - - Joint Stock Companies (http://www.adamsmith.org/smith/won-b5-c1-article-1-ss3.htm)
Chapter 1 - Article 2 - Of the Expense of the Institutions for the Education of Youth (http://www.adamsmith.org/smith/won-b5-c1-article-2-ss1.htm)
Chapter 1 - - - Modern Institutions for Education (http://www.adamsmith.org/smith/won-b5-c1-article-2-ss1.htm)
Chapter 1 - - - Different Plans in Different Nations (http://www.adamsmith.org/smith/won-b5-c1-article-2-ss2.htm)
Chapter 1 - - - Education of Women (http://www.adamsmith.org/smith/won-b5-c1-article-2-ss3.htm)
Chapter 1 - Article 3 - Of the Expense of the Institutions for the Instruction of People of all Ages (http://www.adamsmith.org/smith/won-b5-c1-article-3-ss1.htm)
Chapter 1 - - - Chiefly those for religious instruction (http://www.adamsmith.org/smith/won-b5-c1-article-3-ss1.htm)
Chapter 1 - - - Austere or Liberal Schemes (http://www.adamsmith.org/smith/won-b5-c1-article-3-ss2.htm)
Chapter 1 - - - Collation of Power in Europe to the Pope (http://www.adamsmith.org/smith/won-b5-c1-article-3-ss3.htm)
Chapter 1 - - - Declension of the authority of the Church of Rome (http://www.adamsmith.org/smith/won-b5-c1-article-3-ss4.htm)
Chapter 1 - - - The Lutheran and Calvinistic sects following the Reformation (http://www.adamsmith.org/smith/won-b5-c1-article-3-ss5.htm)
Chapter 1 - - - University vs Church Benefices (http://www.adamsmith.org/smith/won-b5-c1-article-3-ss6.htm)
Chapter 1 - - - Revenue for education (http://www.adamsmith.org/smith/won-b5-c1-article-3-ss7.htm)
Chapter 1 - Part 4 - Of the Expense of Supporting the Dignity of the Sovereign - AND - Conclusion (http://www.adamsmith.org/smith/won-b5-c1-pt-4.htm)
Chapter 2 - Of the Sources of the General or Public Revenue of the Society (http://www.adamsmith.org/smith/won-b5-c2.htm)
Chapter 2 - Part 1 - Of the Funds or Sources of Revenue which may peculiarly belong to the Sovereign or Commonwealth (http://www.adamsmith.org/smith/won-b5-c2-pt-1.htm)
Chapter 2 - Part 2 - Of Taxes (http://www.adamsmith.org/smith/won-b5-c2-pt-2.htm)
Chapter 2 - Article 1 - Taxes upon Rent. Taxes upon the Rent of Land (http://www.adamsmith.org/smith/won-b5-c2-article-1-ss1.htm)
Chapter 2 - - - Taxes which are proportioned, not to the Rent, but to the Produce of Land (http://www.adamsmith.org/smith/won-b5-c2-article-1-ss2.htm)
Chapter 2 - - - Taxes upon the Rent of House (http://www.adamsmith.org/smith/won-b5-c2-article-1-ss3.htm)
Chapter 2 - Article 2 - Taxes on Profit, or upon the Revenue arising from Stock (http://www.adamsmith.org/smith/won-b5-c2-article-2-ss1.htm)
Chapter 2 - - - Taxes upon Profit of particular Employments (http://www.adamsmith.org/smith/won-b5-c2-article-2-ss2.htm)
Chapter 2 - Appendix to Articles 1 and 2 - Taxes upon the Capital Value of Land, Houses, and Stock (http://www.adamsmith.org/smith/won-b5-c2-appendix-to-articles-1-2.htm)
Chapter 2 - Article 3 - Taxes upon the Wages of Labour (http://www.adamsmith.org/smith/won-b5-c2-article-3.htm)
Chapter 2 - Article 4 - Taxes which, it is intended, should fall indifferently upon every different Species of Revenue (http://www.adamsmith.org/smith/won-b5-c2-article-4-ss1.htm)
Chapter 2 - - - Capitation Taxes (http://www.adamsmith.org/smith/won-b5-c2-article-4-ss1.htm)
Chapter 2 - - - Taxes upon Consumable Commodities (http://www.adamsmith.org/smith/won-b5-c2-article-4-ss2.htm)
Chapter 2 - - - The Mercantile System (http://www.adamsmith.org/smith/won-b5-c2-article-4-ss3.htm)
Chapter 2 - - - Tax on Fermented and Spirituous liquors (http://www.adamsmith.org/smith/won-b5-c2-article-4-ss4.htm)
Chapter 2 - - - Customs and Excise Duties (http://www.adamsmith.org/smith/won-b5-c2-article-4-ss5.htm)
Chapter 2 - - - Absentee Tax (http://www.adamsmith.org/smith/won-b5-c2-article-4-ss6.htm)
Chapter 2 - - - Taxes on Luxury Goods (http://www.adamsmith.org/smith/won-b5-c2-article-4-ss7.htm)
Chapter 2 - - - Comparisons with other Countries (http://www.adamsmith.org/smith/won-b5-c2-article-4-ss8.htm)
Chapter 2 - - - Administration of Tax Collecting (http://www.adamsmith.org/smith/won-b5-c2-article-4-ss9.htm)
Chapter 3 - Of Public Debts (http://www.adamsmith.org/smith/won-b5-c3-ss1.htm)
Chapter 3 - - - Public Borrowing (http://www.adamsmith.org/smith/won-b5-c3-ss1.htm)
Chapter 3 - - - Defraying the cost of War (http://www.adamsmith.org/smith/won-b5-c3-ss2.htm)
Chapter 3 - - - The rise of the Public Debt (http://www.adamsmith.org/smith/won-b5-c3-ss3.htm)
Chapter 3 - - - Dealing with the Public Debt (http://www.adamsmith.org/smith/won-b5-c3-ss4.htm)
Chapter 3 - - - Growth in Capital (http://www.adamsmith.org/smith/won-b5-c3-ss5.htm)
Chapter 3 - - - Sources of Revenue (http://www.adamsmith.org/smith/won-b5-c3-ss6.htm)
Chapter 3 - - - Inflation (http://www.adamsmith.org/smith/won-b5-c3-ss7.htm)
Chapter 3 - - - Stamp Duties (http://www.adamsmith.org/smith/won-b5-c3-ss8.htm)
Chapter 3 - Appendix (http://www.adamsmith.org/smith/won-b5-c3-appendix.htm)
PREFACE
The Adam Smith Institute is proud to present the full text of Adam Smith's great book, The Wealth of Nations, online.
This remarkable book was published in 1776, at a time when the power of free trade and competition as stimulants to innovation and progress was scarcely understood. Governments granted monopolies and gave subsidies to protect their own merchants, farmers and manufacturers against 'unfair' competition. The guilds operated stern local cartels: artisans of one town were prevented from travelling to another to find work. Local and national laws forbade the use of new, labour-saving machinery.
And, not surprisingly to us today, poverty was accepted as the common, natural, and inevitable lot of most people.
Adam Smith railed against this restrictive, regulated, 'mercantilist' system, and showed convincingly how the principles of free trade, competition, and choice would spur economic development, reduce poverty, and precipitate the social and moral improvement of humankind. To illustrate his concepts, he scoured the world for examples that remain just as vivid today: from the diamond mines of Golconda to the price of Chinese silver in Peru; from the fisheries of Holland to the plight of Irish prostitutes in London. And so persuasive were his arguments that they not only provided the world with a new understanding of the wealth-creating process; they laid the intellectual foundation for the great era of free trade and economic expansion that dominated the Nineteenth Century.
The Wealth of Nations changed our understanding of the economic world just as Newton's Principia changed our understanding of the physical world and Darwin's Origin of Species. And now, it is here online, for you to read, and enjoy.
Dr. Aemmon Butler
Director of the Adam Smith Institute
London 2001
SOURCE (http://www.adamsmith.org/smith/won-index.htm)
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