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# Natural Order Inversion

# Definition

The historical departure from the natural sequence of economic development observed in European states, where foreign commerce and manufacturing preceded and stimulated agricultural improvement rather than following it. This inversion resulted from artificial institutional constraints and historical circumstances that forced societies into unnatural development patterns.

## Source Chapter

Book III, Chapter 1

## Context

Smith identifies this inversion as a key feature of European economic development that departed from natural patterns, explaining how foreign commerce served as the catalyst for manufacturing development and subsequent agricultural improvement in ways that reversed the logical sequence of economic progress.

## Economic Domain

General Theory

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