Note 138 — Chapter II · : ADAM SMITH

“As the accumulation of stock must, in the nature of things, be previous to the division of labour, so labour can be more and more subdivided in proportion only as stock is previously more and more accumulated.” (Ibid., Book II, Introd.; vol. i, p. 259.) It is true that in another passage he speaks of the quantity of stock which can be employed in any branch of business depending very much upon that of the labour which can be employed in it (Book I, chap. 10, part ii; vol. i, p. 137). But this observation remains isolated, while the former represents his true teaching.