Note 26 — Chapter II · ADAM SMITH’S PHILOSOPHICAL OR PRIMITIVE ACCOUNT OF VALUE.
Reading edition
In one place Smith puts forward a naive and uncritical explanation of the reward to skill, comparable to his explanation of the division of labor as due to a propensity of men to truck and barter. “If ... one species of labour requires an uncommon degree of dexterity and ingenuity, the esteem which men have for such talents will naturally give a value to their produce superior to what would be due to the time employed about it.” P. 49.