The Wealth of Nations_ Books 4-5 - Adam Smith [362]
Political œconomy, the two distinct objects, and two different systems of, 5. The present agricultural system of, adopted by French philosophers described, 247. Classes of the people who contribute to the annual produce of the land, 249.
How proprietors contribute, ib. How cultivators contribute, ib. Artificers and manufacturers, unproductive, 251. The unproductive classes maintained by the others, 254. Bad tendency of restrictions and prohibitions in trade,
258. How this system is delineated by M. Quesnai, 260. The bad effects of an injudicious political œconomy, how corrected, 260. The capital error in this system pointed out, ib.
Poll taxes, origin of, under the feudal government, 497. Why esteemed badges of slavery, ib. The nature of, considered, 462.
Poor, history of the laws made for the provision of, in England, 240.
Pope of Rome, the great power formerly assumed by, 388. His power how reduced, 394. Rapid progress of the Reformation, 395.
Population, riches and extreme poverty, equally unfavourable to, 181–2. Is limited by the means of subsistence, 182, 268.
Porter, the proportion of malt used in the brewing of, 485.
Portugal, the cultivation of the country not advanced by its commerce, 519. The value of gold and silver there, depreciated by prohibiting their exportation, 12, 89. Translation of the commercial treaty concluded in 1703 with England, 124. A large share of the Portugal gold sent annually to England, 126. Motives that led to the discovery of a passage to the East round the Cape of Good Hope, 139. Lost its manufactures by acquiring rich and fertile colonies, 193.
Post-office, a mercantile project well calculated for being managed by government, 408.
Potatoes, remarks on, as an article of food, 264. Culture, and great produce of, ib. The difficulty of preserving them, the great obstacle to cultivating them for general diet, ib.
Poultry, the cause of their cheapness,
330. Is a more important article of rural œconomy in France than in England, ib.
Poverty, sometimes urges nations to inhuman customs, 104. Is no check to the production of children, 181. But very unfavourable to raising them, 182.
Pragmatic sanction in France, the object of, 393. Is followed by the concordat, ib.
Preferments, ecclesiastical, the means by which a national clergy ought to be managed by the civil magistrate,
386. Alterations in the mode of electing to them, 388, 393.
Presbyterian church government, the nature of, described, 399. Character of the clergy of, 400
Prices, real, and nominal, of commodities distinguished, 137. Money price of goods explained, 150. Rent for land enters into the price of the greater part of all commodities,
153. The component parts of the prices of goods explained, ib. Natural and market prices distinguished, and how governed, 157–8. Though raised at first by an increase of demand, are always reduced by it in the result, 337.
Primogeniture, origin and motive of the law of succession by, under the feudal government, 484. Is con-trary to the real interests of families, 486.
Princes, why not well calculated to manage mercantile projects for the sake of a revenue, 408.
Prodigality, the natural tendency of, both to the individual and to the public, 438. Prodigal men enemies to their country, 439.
Produce of land and labour, the source of all revenue, 431. The value of, how to be increased, 443.
Professors in universities, circumstances which determine their merit, 400.
Profit, the various articles of gain that pass under the common idea of, 156–7. An average rate of, in all countries, 157. Averages of, extremely difficult to ascertain, 191. Interest of money the best standard of, ib. The diminution of, a natural consequence of prosperity, 194. Clear, and gross profit, distinguished, 198–9. The nature of the highest ordinary rate of, defined, ib. Double interest, deemed in Great Britain, a reasonable mercantile profit, 200. In thriving countries, low profit may compensate the high wages of labour, ib. The operation of high profits