27/02/2022
So it's not about whether a country is rich, but whether it's growing. That's why you hear people obsessing so much about growth when they talk about companies or the economy. On the whole, Smith feels that the wages paid to workers in England have increased in value, not because people are getting paid more but because the cost of life's necessities (like food) has gone down. Adam Smith takes a moment here to talk about how wage laborers are far superior to slaves because wage laborers are cheaper. For example, a master has to make up for lost profits when a slave gets sick. But when a wage laborer gets sick, he needs to pay for his own expenses. Plus, slaves have no incentive to work hard, while laborers want to make more money and get promoted. Obviously, there are a bunch of better reasons for why slavery shouldn't exist, but Smith takes a moment here to say that it doesn't make sense even on an economic level. Adam Smith also makes an argument for a standard workweek (with weekends off) so that laborers will have a chance to rest and be better at work.
