"He said that the maintenance of public works was a duty of government; and his list of such works included all that at that time could have been possibly socialized—roads, canals, bridges, harbours, etc. Private enterprise could not be expected to erect or maintain these services, and this was a limited sort of socialism... [H]is concessions to Protectionism went very far. The doctrine of defence as prior to opulence was not stated only in respect of the Navigation Act: "if any particular manufacture was necessary for the defence of the society it might not always be prudent to depend upon our neighbours for the supply; and, if such manufacture could not otherwise be supported at home, it might not be unreasonable that all the other branches of industry should be taxed in order to support it". This goes a long way with modern Protectionism."
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Classical economistsAcademics from ScotlandPhilosophers from ScotlandEconomists from ScotlandSociologists from Scotland
Original Language: English
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Sources
D. H. MacGregor, Economic Thought and Policy (1949), p. 81
https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Adam_Smith
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Adam Smith
1723 – 1790
schottischer Moralphilosoph und Ökonom
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