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# Natural Development Sequence

# Definition

The logical progression of economic development from agriculture through manufacturing to foreign trade, driven by natural preferences for security and the fundamental dependency of towns on rural surplus. This sequence represents the ideal pattern of economic growth that occurs when human institutions do not interfere with natural inclinations.

## Source Chapter

Book III, Chapter 1

## Context

Smith presents this sequence as the expected pattern of economic development in undisturbed natural systems, using it as a benchmark against which to measure the distorted development patterns observed in actual societies.

## Economic Domain

General Theory

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