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Ordinary Rate of Profit
Smith defines political economy as the science of how countries can achieve prosperity. Originally a branch of moral philosophy, political economy gave birth to modern economics around 1900 and is now generally considered an interdisciplinary field of social science. But it continues to address the same fundamental questions about how political institutions and markets affect each other.
Political Economy Quotes in The Wealth of Nations
The The Wealth of Nations quotes below are all either spoken by Political Economy or refer to Political Economy. For each quote, you can also see the other terms and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
).
Book 4, Introduction
Quotes
Political economy, considered as a branch of the science of a statesman or legislator, proposes two distinct objects; first, to provide a plentiful revenue or subsistence for the people, or, more properly, to enable them to provide such a revenue or subsistence for themselves; and, secondly, to supply the state or commonwealth with a revenue sufficient for the public services. It proposes to enrich both the people and the sovereign.
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Political Economy Term Timeline in The Wealth of Nations
The timeline below shows where the term Political Economy appears in The Wealth of Nations. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Introduction and Plan of Work
...generally favored manufacturing and trade over agriculture. Book IV will address the different theories of political economy that have arisen from, and shaped, these national policies. Finally, Book V will explain how...
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Book 4, Introduction
Political economy is the science of securing prosperity for a country’s people and revenue for its government....
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Book 4, Chapter 9
No government has ever actually adopted the agricultural system of political economy , which equates a country’s revenue and wealth to the rude produce generated by its...
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Despite its errors, the agricultural system is still the most accurate theory of political economy . It wrongly views merchants and manufacturers as unproductive workers, but it rightly defines a...
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