… is from page 929 of Book V, Chapter 3 of the 1981 Liberty Fund edition of Adam Smith’s 1776 masterpiece, An Inquiry Into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations:
Great Britain seems to support with ease a burden which, half a century ago, nobody believed her capable of supporting. Let us not, however, upon this account rashly conclude that she is capable of supporting any burden, nor even be too confident that she could support, without great distress, a burden a little greater than what has already been laid upon her.
DBx: Adam Smith was born 295 years ago today in Kirkcaldy, Scotland.
Smith’s warning above is that reality isn’t optional. Government spending consumes resources. And as with all spending, if government spending is excessive, that spending cannot continue without impoverishing the nation.
