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Equity, Besides: Adam Smith And The Utility Of Poverty

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  • Martin, Christopher S.

Abstract

Generations of readers have nodded in agreement with Adam Smith’s argument, in Book One of the Wealth of Nations, that a nation cannot be happy if the workers who constitute the majority of its population are miserable. Smith notes that equity, besides, demands that workers receive a generous recompense for their labor. I contend that this famous statement is best interpreted in light of contemporary arguments that it was socially useful for workers to be poor. Smith’s engagement with these arguments is usually interpreted with reference to the labor supply function, but I argue that it also involved deeper suppositions about the place of workers in the social order. Smith’s reaction to these suppositions enriches our understanding of his contribution to liberal economics.

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  • Martin, Christopher S., 2015. "Equity, Besides: Adam Smith And The Utility Of Poverty," Journal of the History of Economic Thought, Cambridge University Press, vol. 37(4), pages 559-581, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:cup:jhisec:v:37:y:2015:i:04:p:559-581_00
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    Cited by:

    1. Santori, Paolo & Assistant, JHET, 2021. "Idleness and the Very Sparing Hand of God: The invisible tie between Hume’s "Dialogues Concerning Natural Religion" and Smith’s "Wealth of Nations"," OSF Preprints r2uje, Center for Open Science.
    2. Scott Drylie, 2020. "Professional Scholarship from 1893 to 2020 on Adam Smith’s Views on School Funding: A Heterodox Examination," Econ Journal Watch, Econ Journal Watch, vol. 17(2), pages 350–391-3, September.
    3. Mueller, Paul D., 2021. "Adam Smith on moral judgment: Why people tend to make better judgments within liberal institutions," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 184(C), pages 813-825.
    4. Kristen R. Collins, 2020. "Observed without Sympathy: Adam Smith on Inequality and Spectatorship," American Journal of Political Science, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 64(4), pages 1034-1046, October.
    5. Martin, Christopher, 2021. "Adam Smith and the poor: A textual analysis," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 184(C), pages 837-849.
    6. DelliSanti, Dylan, 2021. "The dynamism of liberalism: An esoteric interpretation of Adam Smith," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 184(C), pages 717-726.
    7. Erik W. Matson, 2022. "What is liberal about Adam Smith's “liberal plan”?," Southern Economic Journal, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 89(2), pages 593-610, October.
    8. Erik W. Matson, 2019. "Dennis C. Rasmussen, The Infidel and the Professor: David Hume, Adam Smith, and the Friendship That Shaped Modern Thought," The Review of Austrian Economics, Springer;Society for the Development of Austrian Economics, vol. 32(2), pages 181-184, June.

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