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@AdamSmithWorks

@adamsmithworks

8 Mar

@JonahDispatch

So, why the heck would anyone want to do something like #WealthOfTweets anyway?--A thread on Smith and Cancel Culture
1/10
@JonahDispatch @robbysoave @jmhorp @kmanguward @jtlevy @bartwilson @PeterBoettke

We wanted to create #WealthOfTweets mostly because we thought it would be a fun way to get a conversation on Smith happening and to drive traffic to adamsmithworks.org. (Give us a click and a share if you haven't lately!) 2/10

But we chose to do #WealthOfTweets rather than, say, #TweetsOfMoralSentiments because Wealth of Nations is so frequently referenced and so infrequently read. 3/10

Read 10 tweets

@AdamSmithWorks

@adamsmithworks

8 Mar

Yesterday we were excited but today we're feeling a little misty-eyed, to tell you the truth. 🥺🥺🥺 We'll be wrapping up #AdamSmith's #WealthOfNations with the end of Book V, Chapter 3, on public debts. (V.iii.47–92) #WealthOfTweets #SmithTweets

Also yesterday: Smith laid out the situation of European (and especially British) government debt. It seemed bad!
But not everyone thought so! Some people argued that debt effectively adds to a country's capital.
Nah, says Smith. (V.iii.47–51) #WealthOfTweets #SmithTweets

There's a set amount of capital available in any given country. The government borrowing can't create more, it can only divert some of what there already was (to less productive purposes!). (V.iii.47–51) #WealthOfTweets #SmithTweets

Read 34 tweets

@AdamSmithWorks

@adamsmithworks

7 Mar

Can it really be...the last chapter of #AdamSmith's #WealthOfNations?

Were we geographically proximate, we'd pinch each other. We must be dreaming! (V.iii.) #WealthOfTweets #SmithTweets

This chapter is on government financing through debt. That sounds like a bit of a slog, but it's not so bad if you think of it as 40 pages of low-key (sometimes not so low-key) #SmithSnark. (V.iii.) #WealthOfTweets #SmithTweets

It's been so long since Smith explained that in pre-commercial society the rich had no way to spend their 💰 but on dependents—commerce gave them somewhere to spend 💰 and thus freed their dependents, that he has to explain it again. (V.iii.1) #WealthOfTweets #SmithTweets

Read 24 tweets

@AdamSmithWorks

@adamsmithworks

6 Mar

Today we will finally conclude #AdamSmith's thoughts on consumption taxes in #WealthOfNations.
You may be inclined not to believe us at this point, and we, the SmithTweeters, couldn't exactly blame you. But it's true! (V.ii.k.) #WealthOfTweets #SmithTweets

In fact, today will conclude all of Smith's thoughts on taxes, which we began discussing long ago, in days of yore. (V.ii.) #WealthOfTweets #SmithTweets

It's been so long since we started this journey that Smith takes a paragraph to remind us that any tax meant to raise money from the poor should be on their luxuries and not their necessities. (V.ii.k.44) #WealthOfTweets

Read 19 tweets

@AdamSmithWorks

@adamsmithworks

5 Mar

Welcome back to consumption taxes! #AdamSmith has still got a lot to say on this in #WealthOfNations. Let's jump right back in. (V.ii.k.) #WealthOfTweets #SmithTweets

Exise duties are a tax that falls mostly on goods produced at home for consumption at home—generally a few goods that are widely used.
These are mostly luxuries, except for the salt, leather, soap, candles thing.

And green glass. (V.ii.k.19) #WealthOfTweets #SmithTweets

Fellow Smithsters, the green glass thing threw us for a loop.

Is green glass a necessity? Why wasn't it mentioned earlier if so? Is the glass green in color? It a technical term? Send us your theories! regencyredingote.wordpress.com/2008/10/10/the…
(V.ii.k.19) #WealthOfTweets #SmithTweets

Read 26 tweets

@AdamSmithWorks

@adamsmithworks

4 Mar

#AdamSmith! #WealthOfNations! #Taxes! He's still going!
Today, at long last, we come to
ｃｏｎｓｕｍｐｔｉｏｎｔａｘｅｓ!

We, the SmithTweeters, realize we've really built this up. (V.ii.k) #WealthOfTweets #SmithTweets

But! There's a lot of good stuff in here! So once more into the breach, dear Smithketeers...

Smith divides consumable commodities into necessaries and luxuries. (V.ii.k.2) #WealthOfTweets #SmithTweets

Smith includes in necessaries not just what's needed for physical survival, but what's required by common decency in a given society at a given time. He uses the examples of linen shirts and leather shoes for British working class men. (V.ii.k.3–4) #WealthOfTweets #SmithTweets

Read 22 tweets

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