ABSTRACT
At the beginning of Book 4 of An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations (1776; henceforth Wealth of Nations), Adam Smith defined political economy as follows:
Political œconomy, considered as a branch of the science of a statesman or legislator, proposes two distinct objects; first, to provide a plentiful revenue or subsistence for the people, or more properly to enable them to provide such a revenue or subsistence for themselves; and secondly, to supply the state or commonwealth with a revenue sufficient for the publick services. It proposes to enrich both the people and the sovereign.
