Resentment seems to have been given us by nature for a defense, and for a defense only! It is the safeguard of justice and the security of innocence.
Adam SmithRead
No complaint... is more common than that of a scarcity of money.
Interpretation
People often complain about not having enough money, reflecting a common struggle in society.
Adam Smith highlights a universal issue that transcends time, where the lack of money is a frequent source of dissatisfaction among individuals. This scarcity function serves as a critical commentary on economic conditions, personal priorities, and social structures that shape our attitudes towards wealth and resources, emphasizing how financial concerns dominate human experiences.
In practice
During a financial seminar, one could use this quote to discuss common financial challenges.
Resentment seems to have been given us by nature for a defense, and for a defense only! It is the safeguard of justice and the security of innocence.
It is not from the benevolence of the butcher, the brewer, or the baker that we expect our dinner, but from their regard to their own interest.
Wherever there is great property, there is great inequality.
This is one of those cases in which the imagination is baffled by the facts.
The real and effectual discipline which is exercised over a workman is that of his customers. It is the fear of losing their employment which restrains his frauds and corrects his negligence.
Defense is superior to opulence.
Close the weak banks and impose serious capital requirements on the strong ones...You see, it may sound hard-hearted, but you cannot keep unsound financial institutions operating simply because they provide jobs.
It's not that other countries steal jobs from you guys. It's your strategy. Distribute the money and things in a proper way.
The failure of Lehman Brothers demonstrated that liquidity provision by the Federal Reserve would not be sufficient to stop the crisis; substantial fiscal resources were necessary.
Governments must commit to sound economic and financial policies. This is how we ensure reform in the euro area - and our independence.
It has often been found that profuse expenditures, heavy taxation, absurd commercial restrictions, corrupt tribunals, disastrous wars, seditions, persecutions, conflagrations, inundation, have not been able to destroy capital so fast as the exertions of private citizens have been able to create it.
For it is an essential difference between capitalist and socialist production that under capitalism men provide for themselves, while under Socialism they are provided for.
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