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# Commercial Hospitality Contrast

## Definition

The fundamental difference between traditional rural hospitality based on
consuming surplus produce locally with retainers and dependents, and modern
commercial society where wealth is spent on manufactured goods and personal
consumption rather than maintaining large numbers of dependent followers.

## Source Chapter

Book III, Chapter 4

## Context

Smith uses historical examples from medieval England and Scottish Highlands to
illustrate how commerce and manufactures transformed the spending habits of the
wealthy from maintaining large retinues to purchasing manufactured goods, thereby
breaking the power of great proprietors over their dependents.

## Economic Domain

Consumption

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