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# Mutual Servitude

## Definition

The reciprocal economic dependency between town and country inhabitants, where each serves the other through the exchange of goods and services. Towns provide manufactured products and markets for rural surplus, while rural areas supply towns with subsistence and raw materials, creating a balanced system of mutual benefit through division of labour.

## Source Chapter

Book III, Chapter 1

## Context

Smith emphasizes this mutual dependency to counter mercantilist notions of trade as a zero-sum game, demonstrating how both parties gain from exchange and how the division of labour creates reciprocal advantages rather than one-sided losses.

## Economic Domain

Exchange

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