12 KiB
--- ENTITY: productive and unproductive labour ---
Productive and Unproductive Labour
Definition
A fundamental classification of economic activity distinguishing labour that adds value to materials through transformation into vendible commodities from labour that provides services without creating lasting value. Productive labour fixes and realizes itself in particular subjects or commodities that endure after the labour is past and can be stored, exchanged, or employed again, while unproductive labour perishes in the very instant of performance without leaving any vendible commodity or value that can be stored or exchanged.
Source Chapter
Book II, Chapter 3
Context
The central analytical framework of this chapter, introduced to explain how different types of labour affect capital accumulation and economic growth. Smith uses this distinction to show why manufacturers grow rich while those maintaining unproductive servants grow poor, and how this affects the overall productive capacity of a nation.
Economic Domain
Production
--- ENTITY: capital accumulation ---
Capital Accumulation
Definition
The process by which savings from revenue are added to capital stock, enabling the employment of additional productive labour. Capital grows through parsimony when individuals save part of their revenue and either employ it themselves in maintaining productive hands or lend it to others, creating a perpetual fund for maintaining productive labour across time.
Source Chapter
Book II, Chapter 3
Context
The chapter's primary focus, explaining how individual saving behavior accumulates into national capital growth. Smith argues that parsimony, not industry, is the immediate cause of capital increase, and that this process determines whether a nation tends toward industry or idleness.
Economic Domain
Accumulation
--- ENTITY: revenue destined for capital replacement ---
Revenue Destined for Capital Replacement
Definition
That portion of annual produce which immediately replaces capital by renewing provisions, materials, and finished work withdrawn from capital. This revenue maintains only productive hands and pays wages of productive labour, forming the foundation for continued production and economic growth.
Source Chapter
Book II, Chapter 3
Context
Smith divides annual produce into two parts: one replacing capital and one constituting revenue. This portion is crucial because it determines the proportion between productive and unproductive hands in society and thus the general character of inhabitants as to industry or idleness.
Economic Domain
Accumulation
--- ENTITY: revenue constituting profit and rent ---
Revenue Constituting Profit and Rent
Definition
That portion of annual produce which forms revenue either as profit of stock or rent of land. This revenue may maintain either productive or unproductive hands indifferently, unlike capital replacement revenue which maintains only productive labour. It represents the surplus after capital renewal.
Source Chapter
Book II, Chapter 3
Context
The second major division of annual produce, distinguished from capital replacement revenue. Smith notes that owners of this revenue often show predilection for maintaining unproductive hands, affecting the overall productive capacity of society.
Economic Domain
Distribution
--- ENTITY: spare revenue ---
Spare Revenue
Definition
That portion of revenue which remains after necessary subsistence is met and which may be employed in maintaining either productive or unproductive hands. Productive labourers have little spare revenue, while landlords and merchants have most to spare, giving them greater influence over the proportion of productive versus unproductive labour in society.
Source Chapter
Book II, Chapter 3
Context
Smith explains how different social classes use their revenue, noting that spare revenue is the key determinant of whether additional labour will be productive or unproductive, thus affecting capital accumulation and economic growth.
Economic Domain
Distribution
--- ENTITY: funds for maintaining productive labour ---
Funds for Maintaining Productive Labour
Definition
The capital and revenue sources that employ productive hands whose labour adds value to materials. These funds are much greater in rich countries and bear a much greater proportion to those likely to be employed in maintaining idleness, determining the general character of inhabitants as industrious or idle.
Source Chapter
Book II, Chapter 3
Context
Smith argues that the proportion between these funds and those for maintaining unproductive hands determines whether a country tends toward industry or idleness, with rich countries having larger proportions of productive labour.
Economic Domain
Production
--- ENTITY: funds for maintaining unproductive hands ---
Funds for Maintaining Unproductive Hands
Definition
Capital and revenue sources that employ unproductive labourers and those who do not labour at all, including servants, soldiers, churchmen, lawyers, physicians, and entertainers. These funds tend to have predilection for unproductive labour, especially among the wealthy, affecting the overall productive capacity of society.
Source Chapter
Book II, Chapter 3
Context
Smith contrasts these funds with those for productive labour, noting that their proportion determines whether a society tends toward industry or idleness, and that rich countries often maintain larger proportions of unproductive hands.
Economic Domain
Production
--- ENTITY: proportion between productive and unproductive hands ---
Proportion Between Productive and Unproductive Hands
Definition
The ratio determining the relative numbers of productive labourers who add value to materials versus unproductive labourers who provide services without creating vendible commodities. This proportion depends on the relative size of funds for maintaining productive versus unproductive hands, and determines whether a country tends toward industry or idleness.
Source Chapter
Book II, Chapter 3
Context
The central analytical relationship in the chapter, showing how the division of annual produce between capital replacement and revenue affects the overall productive capacity and economic character of a nation.
Economic Domain
General Theory
--- ENTITY: frugality versus prodigality ---
Frugality Versus Prodigality
Frugality Versus Prodigality
Definition
The contrasting principles governing individual and public expenditure that determine capital accumulation. Frugality increases public capital by saving revenue for productive employment, while prodigality diminishes it by consuming capital through excessive expenditure on unproductive labour and consumption.
Source Chapter
Book II, Chapter 3
Context
Smith presents this as the fundamental economic choice affecting national wealth, arguing that individual frugality accumulates capital while prodigality destroys it, with public prodigality being particularly harmful when it employs revenue in maintaining unproductive hands.
Economic Domain
Accumulation
--- ENTITY: perpetual fund for maintenance of labour ---
Perpetual Fund for Maintenance of Labour
Perpetual Fund for Maintenance of Labour
Definition
The accumulated capital created through individual saving that provides continuous employment for productive labour across all future time periods. Like a founder of a public work-house, a frugal person establishes a fund that, though not legally protected, is guarded by the evident interest of all who may ever possess any share of it.
Source Chapter
Book II, Chapter 3
Context
Smith uses this concept to show how individual saving creates lasting economic benefits beyond the immediate year, establishing a permanent capacity for productive employment that characterizes wealthy nations.
Economic Domain
Accumulation
--- ENTITY: encroachment upon capital ---
Encroachment Upon Capital
Definition
The process by which individuals who spend beyond their income consume their capital stock, perverting funds consecrated to productive employment for maintaining unproductive labour. This diminishes the quantity of labour that adds value to subjects and consequently reduces the real wealth and revenue of the country's inhabitants.
Source Chapter
Book II, Chapter 3
Context
Smith describes how prodigality leads to capital consumption, comparing it to perverting revenues of pious foundations to profane purposes, and showing how this behavior impoverishes both the individual and the country.
Economic Domain
Accumulation
--- ENTITY: exportation of gold and silver as effect of declension ---
Exportation of Gold and Silver as Effect of Declension
Definition
The consequence rather than cause of economic decline, where diminishing annual produce leads to reduced domestic circulation of money, forcing its exportation to purchase consumable goods abroad. This exportation continues for some time to support consumption beyond the value of domestic produce.
Source Chapter
Book II, Chapter 3
Context
Smith refutes the mercantilist view that gold and silver export causes economic decline, arguing instead that it is the effect of declining production and can even temporarily alleviate the misery of declension.
Economic Domain
Exchange
--- ENTITY: increase of money as effect of prosperity ---
Increase of Money as Effect of Prosperity
Definition
The natural consequence of economic growth where increased annual produce requires greater money circulation. The increased produce naturally employs itself in purchasing additional gold and silver necessary for circulating the rest, making monetary increase the effect rather than cause of public prosperity.
Source Chapter
Book II, Chapter 3
Context
Smith's complementary argument to the previous entity, showing that monetary growth follows rather than leads economic development, refuting mercantilist concerns about money scarcity.
Economic Domain
Exchange
--- ENTITY: private misconduct versus public prodigality ---
Private Misconduct Versus Public Prodigality
Private Misconduct Versus Public Prodigality
Definition
The distinction between individual economic errors and government extravagance as causes of reduced productive funds. While private misconduct rarely affects great nations due to compensation by others' good conduct, public prodigality employing revenue in maintaining unproductive hands can significantly diminish funds for productive labour.
Source Chapter
Book II, Chapter 3
Context
Smith argues that public prodigality is more dangerous than private misconduct because it operates at scale and is not compensated by others' frugality, potentially leading to national impoverishment.
Economic Domain
Regulation
--- ENTITY: natural progress of improvement ---
Natural Progress of Improvement
Definition
The inherent tendency of societies to accumulate capital and improve through individual efforts to better their condition, protected by law and allowed by liberty. This principle frequently restores health to the economic constitution despite government extravagance and administrative errors.
Source Chapter
Book II, Chapter 3
Context
Smith's optimistic conclusion that individual self-interest and frugality generally overcome government interference, allowing England's progress toward opulence despite public prodigality.
Economic Domain
General Theory
--- ENTITY: modes of expense affecting public opulence ---
Modes of Expense Affecting Public Opulence
Definition
The distinction between spending revenue on immediately consumable items versus durable commodities, where the latter contributes more to public opulence by providing useful goods to inferior ranks, encouraging frugality, and maintaining more productive hands than extravagant hospitality.
Source Chapter
Book II, Chapter 3
Context
Smith's final analysis showing how different spending patterns affect national wealth, arguing that investment in durable goods creates more lasting economic benefits than consumption of perishable items.
Economic Domain
Consumption