Thread by @adamsmithworks

OK! It's time for #WealthOfNations Book I, Chapter 11! Which is longer than all of Book II. Are you ready? Are we ready? Can anybody really be ready? #WealthOfTweets #SmithTweets

And it's all about...the rent of land, or the price paid for the use of the land where production takes place. Gripping! It's naturally a monopoly price, says Smith. (I.xi.a.1,5) #WealthOfTweets #SmithTweets

You might think, says Smith, that the rent of land is partly the result of improvements to the land (I.xi.a.2) but you'd be wrong. #WealthOfTweets #SmithTweets

It's really all about the price of what's produced and therefore what the tenant can afford to pay. Because of the monopoly thing, surplus value goes to the landlord. (I.xi.a.6–9) #WealthOfTweets #SmithTweets

This means that rent is related to price in a special way, if you're #AdamSmith. High wages and profit are the 𝘤𝘢𝘶𝘴𝘦 of high prices, but because landlords hoover up surplus value, high rents are the 𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘶𝘭𝘵 of high prices. (I.xi.a.8) #WealthOfTweets #SmithTweets

What kind of produce always affords rent? Food! It's 'cause everyone's gotta eat. (Really, that's the explanation.) (I.xi.b.1) #WealthOfTweets #SmithTweets

The need for food, which takes a lot of land to produce back in the 18thC, is also the cause of trade between town and country. And so, as we learnt thoroughly in I.iii, roads, canals, etc. that make the country accessible matter, too! (I.xi.b.5) #WealthOfTweets #SmithTweets

We, the SmithTweeters, are so happy for the opportunity to read this book through with you. But OMG SMITH WE DON'T NEED TO KNOW THE PRICE OF EVERY HECKIN THING YOU SEE AROUND YOU. Ahem. (I.xi.b.6–37) #WealthOfTweets #SmithTweets

These price comparisons are meant to convey the importance of covering the costs of improvements/insurance and of the relative price differences between, say, beef and wheat when thinking about how land is going to be improved and used. (I.xi.b.6–27) #WealthOfTweets #SmithTweets

So long as all production has to compete for land with non-optional food production (everyone's gotta eat!), land rents will all be at least partly regulated by the prices and production of the common crops that sustain the people. (I.xi.b.28) #WealthOfTweets #SmithTweets

Special case: if there isn't enough land to meet the demand for something, e.g., the most fashionable/scarce wines, the price will exceed the cost of wages, profit, and transport. This makes landlords happy, 'cause they get the rest. (I.xi.b.31–34) #WealthOfTweets #SmithTweets

And, as Adam Smith would have predicted, this leads landlords to call for restrictions on the development of land to produce those goods. Or they might burn excess product. Smith doubts this is the secret to sustained high rents. (I.xi.b.27–33) #WealthOfTweets #SmithTweets

Now Smith spends some time speculating on whether there might be better crops for landlords to encourage than beef and corn. Rice has high yields, but boglands where rice is grown don't have a lot of other uses. (I.xi.b.35–38) #WealthOfTweets #SmithTweets

Does #AdamSmith ever miss an opportunity to complain about oatmeal? (I.xi.b.41) #WealthOfTweets #SmithTweets

OK. OK. We don't mean to get excited but we're about to launch a digression on potatoes! #DigressionOnPotatoes (I.xi.b.39–42) #WealthOfTweets #SmithTweets

DID YOU KNOW that this part of #WealthOfNations is (at least partly) responsible for the introduction of potatoes into India? atlasobscura.com/articles/potat… #DigressionOnPotatoes (I.xi.b.39–42) #WealthOfTweets #SmithTweets

The British East India Company (Smith was no fan) was influenced by Smith's claim that potatoes would produce more food (reducing famine) and make for better (and more beautiful!) workers #DigressionOnPotatoes (I.xi.b.39–42) #WealthOfTweets #SmithTweets

So the East India Company pushed for potato cultivation to try to raise their rents. It didn't really make sense if you knew as much about India as, say, Indians did. But when did that ever stop colonists? #DigressionOnPotatoes (I.xi.b.39–42) #WealthOfTweets #SmithTweets

We do not think that Smith would have been a fan of the use of this part of the text to further and justify imperialism. But we hope he might have enjoyed a masala dosa. #DigressionOnPotatoes (I.xi.b.39–42) #WealthOfTweets #SmithTweets

Just to be clear: Potatoes would have made it to India anyway, and Indians would have found the best way to use them. But it's SO WEIRD that the way they were actually introduced is related to these few paragraphs. #DigressionOnPotatoes (I.xi.b.39–42) #WealthOfTweets #SmithTweets

So the next time you enjoy aloo matar, think of Adam Smith, the colonized peoples who managed to make something their own in spite of physical, legal, and cultural oppression, and weird happenstance. #DigressionOnPotatoes (I.xi.b.39–42) #WealthOfTweets #SmithTweets

(Please note, that we, the SmithTweeters, understand that this is the appropriate length for a digression. It will matter in the upcoming weeks that you know that we know this.) #DigressionOnPotatoes #DigressionOnSilver #DigressionWhatDoesItMean #WealthOfTweets #SmithTweets