Preface and Book Design The annual labor of the citizens of a country is the source of all the necessaries and conveniencies of life which they annually consume.These necessaries and conveniencies consist either of the direct produce of the labor of this country, or of foreign purchases of such produce. The produce of this kind, or the articles which are brought in from foreign countries by means of it, either have a large or a small proportion to the number of consumers, so that all the necessaries and conveniencies required by the citizens of a country are well supplied. Bad, depending on the size of this ratio.

But this proportion is governed, in any country, by the following two circumstances: first, how skilfully, skillfully, and judiciously the people of that country employ their labour, generally speaking; 2. What is the proportion of those who are engaged in useful labor to those who are not.Whatever may be the soil, climate, and extent of a country, the annual supply of its subjects must depend upon these two circumstances. Besides, the quality of the above-mentioned supply seems to depend more on the former case.Among uncivilized fishing and hunting peoples, all those who can work engage in useful labor to a greater or lesser extent, supplying themselves and those in the family who are unable to fish and hunt due to old, young, sick and weak with various necessities and conveniences of life as much as possible.They are, however, so poor that often, because of their poverty alone, they are compelled, or at least feel compelled, to kill their relatives, old, young, and chronically ill; or to abandon them to starve or be eaten by wild animals.On the other hand, among civilized and flourishing nations there are many who do not work at all, and who often consume ten or a hundred times more of the produce of that labor than the majority of the laborers.But as the total labor of the society produces so many things, there is often sufficient supply for all, and even the lowest and poorest laborers, as long as they are diligent and thrifty, enjoy more necessities and conveniences than savages.

Where is the cause of this improvement in the productive power of labour, and in what order are the products of labor naturally distributed among the various classes in society?This is the subject of the first part of this book. Different nations, who have acquired a considerable degree of dexterity, skill, and judgment in the employment of labour, have adopted very different plans for the general administration or direction of labour.These plans are not equally favorable to the increase of the produce of the country.The policies of some countries especially encourage rural industries; the policies of other countries especially encourage urban industries.I am afraid that there is no country that can evenly develop various industries evenly.Since the collapse of the Roman Empire, the policy of all the nations of Europe has been less favorable to the country industries, namely agriculture, than to the urban ones, namely arts and crafts, manufactures, and commerce.Part III of this book will show what circumstances lead to the adoption and regulation of such a policy.The implementation of these plans may have originally arisen from the interests and prejudices of particular classes, who had no foresight or consideration as to how these plans would affect the welfare of society as a whole.These plans, however, gave rise to very different economic doctrines.Some people think that urban industry is important; some people insist that rural industry is important.These various doctrines exerted a considerable influence not only on the opinions of scholars, but also on the policy of kings and states.I shall do my best, in the fourth part of this book, to explain these different doctrines with great detail and definiteness, and to show the important influence they have had in ages and nations.

In short, the purpose of the first four parts of this book is to explain how the income of the people at large is composed, and to explain the nature of the resources that supply the annual consumption of peoples in all ages.The fifth and last book deals with the revenue of the prince or state.In this part I shall endeavor to explain the following points: First, What are the necessary expenses of the prince or state, and what part of this is to be paid by the taxes borne by the whole society, and what by some particular class or member of the society. special taxation.Second, how the funds from all taxpayers in the whole society are raised, and what are the advantages and disadvantages of various methods of raising money.Thirdly, What has caused almost all modern governments to borrow a part of their revenue as security, and what effect this debt has on the real wealth, that is, on the annual produce of the land and labor of the community.