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National Revenue
National wealth is the total wealth owned by all of a country’s people and institutions. Smith wrote this book in large part to show that the mercantile system is wrong to equate national wealth with gold and silver reserves, when it is really purchasing power—or the amount of rude produce, goods, and labor that the country generates and can obtain through exchange.
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National Wealth Term Timeline in The Wealth of Nations
The timeline below shows where the term National Wealth appears in The Wealth of Nations. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Book 1, Chapter 8
...capacity can make use of). The combination of surplus revenue and surplus stock increases the national wealth . And as the national wealth increases, so does the demand for wage-laborers, and thus...
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...this, with low wages and entrenched poverty because of economic stagnation. In a country where national wealth is shrinking, wages fall very low, there is intense competition for jobs, and hunger and...
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Book 2, Chapter 5
...that capital tends to go into the carrying trade, which is thus a reflection of national wealth . This is why Holland and England dominate it. The carrying trade can expand infinitely...
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Book 4, Chapter 1
The value of a nation’s gold and silver money is part of its national wealth , but generally only a small part. Rather, money’s primary contribution is its usefulness as...
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