Thanks for this, but I seem to recall another where
the inclination of merchants to overtly anti-social
behavior is even more explicit. Maybe I just inflated
this one in my own head.
mbs
Smith, WN I.x.c.27, p. 145 "People of the same trade seldom meet
together, even for merriment and diversion, but the conversation ends in a
conspiracy against the publick, or in some contrivance to raise prices.
It is impossible to prevent such meetings, by any law which either could
be executed, or would be consistent with liberty and justice. But though
the law cannot hinder people of the same trade from assembling together,
it ought to do nothing to facilitate such assemblies."
On Fri, Dec 08, 2000 at 12:12:23PM -0500, Max Sawicky wrote:
> I don't ordinarily browse through WoN, but
> I was looking for a quote I remembered because
> I was to debate Steve Moore from the
> Cato Institute in front of a hundred or so
> right-wing state legislators (ALEC, for the
> cognoscenti).
>
> It's the one where Smith says when merchants
> get together they will lie cheat and steal and
> anything else to gain advantage. Can anyone
> give me the citation?
>
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