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# Distant Country Subsistence

## Definition

The economic arrangement where towns obtain their subsistence not from immediate rural surroundings but from very distant countries, creating variations in the progress of opulence across different ages and nations. This arrangement, while not contradicting the general rule of town-country dependency, introduces complexity into the natural development pattern.

## Source Chapter

Book III, Chapter 1

## Context

Smith acknowledges this as an exception to the typical local town-country relationship, explaining how international trade can alter the usual patterns of economic development while still maintaining the fundamental dependency of towns on external subsistence sources.

## Economic Domain

Exchange

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