866 B
866 B
Merchant-Country Gentleman Transition
Definition
The social and economic phenomenon where successful urban merchants acquire rural estates and become country landowners, bringing with them commercial habits of profitable investment, order, economy, and attention that make them particularly effective improvers of agricultural land compared to traditional country gentlemen.
Source Chapter
Book III, Chapter 4
Context
Smith's second mechanism explaining how commerce improves the country, noting that merchants accustomed to profitable projects are bolder and more effective land improvers than traditional country gentlemen who employ capital mainly in expense rather than investment.
Economic Domain
Distribution