Note 577 — Chapter IV · : FRIEDRICH LIST AND THE NATIONAL SYSTEM OF POLITICAL ECONOMY

P. 292. The idea of national power is, moreover, not completely lost sight of by Smith, as is proved by the following passages: “The riches and, so far as power depends upon riches, the power of every country must always be in proportion to the value of its annual produce.… But the great object of the political economy of every country is to increase the riches and power of that country.” (Wealth of Nations, Book II, chap. 5; Cannan’s edition, vol. i, p. 351.)