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@AdamSmithWorks

@adamsmithworks

6 Feb

Good morning, Smithketeers! Time for Fun With 18thC Spelling! WHY does #AdamSmith, who invented modern economics, spell it with an O like some kind of crazy person? #WealthOfTweets #SmithTweets

@kefimgr

It's because he's thinking about the Greek roots of the word. Oikos=Household and Nomia=Management [Sending some love to our friends @kefimgr] #WealthOfTweets #SmithTweets

We, the SmithTweeters, support a revival of this spelling. We're sure it won't bother any of our oeconomist friends, or their oeconomics departments. Right? #WealthOfTweets #SmithTweets

Read 28 tweets

@AdamSmithWorks

@adamsmithworks

5 Feb

OK so chapter 4 of Book 3 of #WealthOfNations is a lot of *chef's kiss* and a little "...wat." Let's dive in. (III.iv.) #SmithTweets

Towns getting rich helped the country get rich in three ways:

1) They provide a market for the country.
2) They provided entrepreneurial people with the money to buy and improve land.
3) They largely ended domination and war.

(III.iv.1–4) #WealthOfTweets #SmithTweets

3) is another wildly underappreciated argument from Smith: The commercial society that towns fostered improved governing institutions to reduce violence and increase security so that development can even happen.

That's good.
That's huge. (III.iv.4) #WealthOfTweets #SmithTweets

Read 28 tweets

@AdamSmithWorks

@adamsmithworks

4 Feb

Look, no matter what Starship told us all back in the 80s, you can't actually build a city on rock and roll. Fortunately #AdamSmith is here to help. (with Hume in the background on synthesizer, we suspect.)

The first inhabitants of cities were traders and craftsmen who were particularly put upon before cities developed. You can tell by the kinds of things they consider privileges (deciding who their kids marry! deciding who inherits! 🤯) (III.iii.1) #WealthOfTweets #SmithTweets

Because they were probably itinerant peddlers and workers before they settled in cities, they were taxed for passing through lands, or crossing bridges, or setting up a stall to sell goods. Or whatever else someone could dream up. (III.iii.2) #WealthOfTweets #SmithTweets

Read 23 tweets

@AdamSmithWorks

@adamsmithworks

3 Feb

Is it just us, or do you guys love it when #AdamSmith is all, “I am inventing modern economics! To do so, I must now discuss at length that time the Germans and Scythians overran the Roman Empire!” Because we are very much here for that. (III.ii.1) #WealthOfTweets #SmithTweets

It’s probably just us. Anyway the Germans and Scythians overran the Roman Empire.

It was bad.

(III.ii.1) #WealthOfTweets #SmithTweets

Lots of land was deserted as people fled, then grabbed up or “engrossed” by a few people, who protected their grabbed land with primogeniture and entail. (III.ii.1) #WealthOfTweets #SmithTweets

Read 24 tweets

@AdamSmithWorks

@adamsmithworks

2 Feb

It's Book Three of #AdamSmith's #WealthOfNations! Magic!
#WealthOfTweets #SmithTweets

(The Progress of Opulence would be a great band name. Didn’t they open for Porcupine Tree?)

Admit it. After Book II (on stock) this sounds AMAZING. (III.i.) #WealthOfTweets #SmithTweets

Oh man, we love this chapter. And we love it because when Smith talks about how intimately the wealth of the town and the country are intertwined, it’s such a great example of how trade is about cooperation. (III.i.1) #WealthOfTweets #SmithTweets

Read 20 tweets

@AdamSmithWorks

@adamsmithworks

1 Feb

Is there a better way to start the day than with a good ol' Smithian subdivision? OBVIOUSLY NOT. Capital can be employed in four ways:
1) procuring rude produce (raw materials)
2) manufacturing
3) wholesale
4) retail
(II.v.2) #WealthOfTweets #SmithTweets

All four employments depend on each other. You can't have retail without raw materials, manufacturing, wholesaling. You won't procure raw materials with no one to sell them to. &c. (II.v.3–7) #WealthOfTweets #SmithTweets

Retail needs to be defended more than the other three categories. Smith is arguing against political writers who think that the number of retailers needs to be controlled to protect consumers and the public interest. (II.v.7) #WealthOfTweets #SmithTweets

Read 34 tweets

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