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… is from page 45, of Book I, Chapter IV [2] of the 1981 Liberty Fund edition [3] of Adam Smith’s monumental 1776 An Inquiry Into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations [4]:
For in every country of the world, I believe, the avarice and injustice of princes and sovereign states, abusing the confidence of their subjects, have by degrees diminished the real quantity of metal, which had been originally contained in their coins.
DBx: Trusting anyone or any institution – including the state – with monopoly power over the supply of money is the height of folly. Common sense says so, with history confirming this conclusion.
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An Inquiry Into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations was published 247 years ago on this date, March 9th.