Thread by @adamsmithworks

So, sometimes #AdamSmith's #WealthOfNations can feel a bit abstract. Not today! Today we're talking jobs! #WealthOfTweets #SmithTweets

If a society has perfect liberty and if workers are perfectly free to choose, they will naturally move to the most advantageous forms of employment. Those are some big ifs, but we can be 𝗯𝗲𝘁𝘁𝗲𝗿 at this, if not perfect. (I.x.a.1) #WealthOfTweets #SmithTweets

There are 5 main factors that affect wages for a given job. (I.x.b.1) #WealthOfTweets #SmithTweets

Is it pleasant to do?
Is it quick and cheap to learn?
Are there lots of jobs?
How much respect/trust does it need?
How likely is success?

Only two of these factors affect the profits of stock: the agreeableness/disagreeableness of the business and the risk of failure. (I.x.a.34) #WealthOfTweets #SmithTweets

Some work, like hunting and fishing, becomes so easy, fun, & plentiful that it becomes a hobby rather than a job. (We don’t SmithTweet for free, but we knit & cook for fun!) (I.x.b.3) #WealthOfTweets #SmithTweets

Workers with expensive educations are like expensive machines. So you’d better expect that PhD to pay off in salary later! (I.x.b.6) #WealthOfTweets #SmithTweets

Smith. Not a fan of apprenticeship. He says apprentices are expensive & often lazy, which is bad for masters & customers. They are bound for a long time, which is bad for apprentices. Everyone loses. (I.x.b.8) #WealthOfTweets #SmithTweets

If that's not enough, compulsory apprenticeships are an extra barrier to entering a trade! REALLY everyone loses. (I.x.b.8) #WealthOfTweets #SmithTweets

“Education in the ingenious arts and the liberal professions is still more tedious and expensive.” SAYS THE COLLEGE PROFESSOR. (I.x.b.9) #WealthOfTweets #SmithTweets

If your work is seasonal, you have to make enough to sustain you when it’s not the right season. But we’re not sure it works that way any more, now that we’re primarily non-agricultural in our work. Seasonal work pays less, not more. (I.x.b.12) #WealthOfTweets #SmithTweets

Oh! Except for holiday workers at, say Target or FedEx. They usually make a premium because of high demand in holiday season. Is that a modern analogue to Smith’s agricultural example? (I.x.b.12) #WealthOfTweets #SmithTweets

If a job is tough and dirty enough (Hi @MikeRoweWorks, we love you like we love Adam Smith) it can pay even more than nice, clean work. (I.x.b.15) #DirtyJobs #WealthOfTweets #SmithTweets

That’s why colliers and coal-heavers make so much—the work is dirty, hard, and dangerous. And the wage has to persuade people to take all that on. Have we mentioned we love @MikeRoweWorks? (I.x.b.15) #WealthOfTweets #SmithTweets

Look. Smith had failings. And one of them is the failure to take the opportunity in I.x.b.15 to mention night soil men: the profession you didn't know you didn't want to miss. They carted off the 💩! (Really.) #DirtyJobs #WealthOfTweets #SmithTweets

If people have to trust you a lot, you get paid more. Bankers, goldsmiths, doctors. etc. (I.x.b.17–20) #WealthOfTweets #SmithTweets

And if the odds against succeeding are high, you get paid more. High risk=high reward. (I.x.b.21–24) #WealthOfTweets #SmithTweets

This sort of falls apart, says Smith, wrt the arts, some of which were considered morally iffy in his time. When artists make it big, they’re paid a lot for their talent, but also to compensate them for doing disreputable work. Like opera. (I.x.b.1) #WealthOfTweets #SmithTweets

(We feel compelled to mention, at this point, that @mikeroweworks used to be an opera singer. Bet he never thought that was a #DirtyJob....but Smith did.) #SmithTweets #WealthOfTweets

Today, the low pay for artists may be because art is treated more like hunting and fishing—considered more fun than joblike. (That may not be kind to artists, but it may be what’s happening.) (I.x.b.25) #WealthOfTweets #SmithTweets

Oh, btw, we all, universally, stink at evaluating risk. We’re awful at it. And the younger we are, the worse we are. (I.x.b.26–33) #WealthOfTweets #SmithTweets

You don’t get crazy rich by just pursuing a trade. That takes speculation and risk. We’re not sure Smith totally approves of that approach, and at any rate he doesn't seem to recommend it. (I.x.b.38) #WealthOfTweets #SmithTweets

Generally you make more money in new kinds of jobs than in old ones. (I.x.b.39) #WealthOfTweets #SmithTweets

All sorts of outside factors influence wages—season, war/peace, price of commodities, etc. (I.x.b.44–47) #WealthOfTweets #SmithTweets

Smith knows about side-gigs! They weren't invented by Uber! (I.x.b.48–52) #WealthOfTweets #SmithTweets

(We do wonder if he could have envisioned a world where everything is a side gig, though... See you tomorrow!) #WealthOfTweets #SmithTweets