Smith and Living Wages: Arguments in Support of a Mandated Living Wage

Adam Smith was a proponent of living wages for labor for reasons of growth and for reasons of equity. There is ample evidence in the body of Smith's work to support the thesis that Smith would support public policies that might ensure the achievement of a living wage. The argument rests, in part, on the conclusion that Smith had reservations concerning the ability of the economy to experience sufficient growth and the ability of growth, if achieved, to secure living wages. This article argues that, given Smith's views about justice and given Smith's ideas, as part of the Scottish Enlightenment, of how the rules of justice evolve, a living wage law could be one of the general rules of which Smith could approve.