political economy - adam smith

THE WEALTH OF NATION*

by Adam Smith

INTRODUCTION AND PLAN OF THE
WORK

THE ANNUAL LABOUR of every nation is the fund which
originally supplies it with all the necessaries and
conveniencies of life which it annually consumes, and
which consist always either in the immediate produce of that labour,
or in what is purchased with that produce from other nations.
According, therefore, as this produce, or what is purchased with
it, bears a greater or smaller proportion to the number of those who
are to consume it, the nation will be better or worse supplied with
all the necessaries and conveniencies for which it has occasion.

vocabulary**

labour - trabalho

fund - fundo - recurso

to supply - suprir, fornecer

annually - anualmente

which - o qual, que

either - ou

produce - produto, produção

purchased - comprado

according - de acordo com

therefore - portanto

to bear - apoiar, garantir

to be better or worse - ser melhor ou pior

occaion - ocasião.

But this proportion must in every nation be regulated by two
different circumstances: first, by the skill, dexterity, and judgment
with which its labour is generally applied; and, secondly, by the
proportion between the number of those who are employed in
useful labour, and that of those who are not so employed. Whatever
be the soil, climate, or extent of territory of any particular
nation, the abundance or scantiness of its annual supply must, in
that particular situation, depend upon those two circumstances.

must - deve

dexterity - destreza

secondly - em segundo lugar

soil - solo

climate - clima

scantiness - escassez

The abundance or scantiness of this supply, too, seems to depend
more upon the former of those two circumstances than upon
the latter. Among the savage nations of hunters and fishers, every
individual who is able to work is more or less employed in useful
labour, and endeavours to provide, as well as he can, the necessaries
and conveniencies of life, for himself, and such of his family
or tribe as are either too old, or too young, or too infirm, to go ahunting
and fishing. Such nations, however, are so miserably poor,
that, from mere want, they are frequently reduced, or at least think
themselves reduced, to the necessity sometimes of directly destroying,
and sometimes of abandoning their infants, their old people,
and those afflicted with lingering diseases, to perish with hunger,
or to be devoured by wild beasts.

supply - suprimento

to seem - parecer

depend upon - depende de

former - antigo, anterior

savage - selvagem

to provide - prover

to go ahuntingand fishing - ir caçar ou pescar

their infants, their old people - suas crianças, seus idosos

lingering diseases - doenças crônicas ou que demanda muito cuidado

to perish with hunger - morrer de fome

wild beasts - feras selvagens

Among civilized and thriving nations, on the contrary, though

a great number of people do not
labour at all, many of whom consume the produce of ten times,
frequently of a hundred times, more labour than the greater part
of those who work; yet the produce of the whole labour of the
society is so great, that all are often abundantly supplied; and a
workman, even of the lowest and poorest order, if he is frugal and
industrious, may enjoy a greater share of the necessaries and
conveniencies of life than it is possible for any savage to acquire.

Among - entre (várias possibilidades)

thriving nations - nações prósperas

at all - de modo algum

yet - contudo

workman - trabalhador

even - mesmo

lowest and poorest order - mais baixa e pobre ordem

share - partilha, quantidade

to acquire - adquirir

The causes of this improvement in the productive powers of
labour, and the order according to which its produce is naturally
distributed among the different ranks and conditions of men in
the society, make the subject of the first book of this Inquiry.
Whatever be the actual state of the skill, dexterity, and judgment,
with which labour is applied in any nation, the abundance
or scantiness of its annual supply must depend, during the continuance
of that state, upon the proportion between the number
of those who are annually employed in useful labour, and that of
those who are not so employed.

improvement - melhoramento

productive powers - forças produtivas

ranks - fileiras

Inquiry - investigação

skill - habilidade

continuance - continuação

between - entre (duas possibilidades)

The number of useful and productive
labourers, it will hereafter appear, is everywhere in proportion
to the quantity of capital stock which is employed in setting
them to work, and to the particular way in which it is so
employed. The second book, therefore, treats of the nature of capital
stock, of the manner in which it is gradually accumulated, and of
the different quantities of labour which it puts into motion, according
to the different ways in which it is employed.

The - o, a

useful - util

everywhere - todo lugar

capital stock - estoque de papeis-moeda

to treat - tratar

Nations tolerably well advanced as to skill, dexterity, and judgment,
in the application of labour, have followed very different plans
in the general conduct or direction of it; and those plans have not
all been equally favourable to the greatness of its produce. The policy
of some nations has given extraordinary encouragement to the industry
of the country; that of others to the industry of towns. Scarce
any nation has dealt equally and impartially with every sort of industry.
Since the down-fall of the Roman empire, the policy of Europe
has been more favourable to arts, manufactures, and commerce,
the industry of towns, than to agriculture, the Industry of the country.

as to - quanto à

judgment - julgamento

to follow - seguir

of it - disso, dessa

policy - política

encouragement - apoio

towns - cidades de pequeno ou médio porte

down-fall - queda, derrocada

The circumstances which seem to have introduced and established
this policy are explained in the third book.
Though those different plans were, perhaps, first introduced by
the private interests and prejudices of particular orders of men, without
any regard to, or foresight of, their consequences upon the general
welfare of the society; yet they have given occasion to very different
theories of political economy; of which some magnify the
importance of that industry which is carried on in towns, others of
that which is carried on in the country. Those theories have had a
considerable influence, not only upon the opinions of men of learning,
but upon the public conduct of princes and sovereign states. I
have endeavoured, in the fourth book, to explain as fully and distinctly
as I can those different theories, and the principal effects
which they have produced in different ages and nations.

third book - terceiro livro

perhaps - talvez

private interests - interesses privados

prejudices - preconceitos

general welfare - bem-estar geral

political economy - politica econômica

learning - conhecimento

sovereign states - estados soberanos

theories - teorias

To explain in what has consisted the revenue of the great body
of the people, or what has been the nature of those funds, which,
in different ages and nations, have supplied their annual consumption,
is the object of these four first books. The fifth and last book
treats of the revenue of the sovereign, or commonwealth. In this
book I have endeavoured to shew, first, what are the necessary
expenses of the sovereign, or commonwealth; which of those expenses
ought to be defrayed by the general contribution of the
whole society, and which of them, by that of some particular part
only, or of some particular members of it: secondly, what are the
different methods in which the whole society may be made to
contribute towards defraying the expenses incumbent on the whole
society, and what are the principal advantages and inconveniencies
of each of those methods; and, thirdly and lastly, what are the
reasons and causes which have induced almost all modern governments
to mortgage some part of this revenue, or to contract debts;
and what have been the effects of those debts upon the real wealth,
the annual produce of the land and labour of the society.

To explain - explicar

revenue - renda

great body - grande corpo

consumption - consumo

commonwealth - confederação

endeavoured - esforçado, empenhado

ought to be defrayed - deve ser custeado

methods - métodos

towards - para

thirdly and lastly - em terceiro lugar e por último

to mortgage - hipotecar

wealth - riqueza

*Esta versão está disponibilizada em pdf pela A PENN STATE ELECTRONIC CLASSICS SERIES PUBLICATION.

**vocabulário tradução e adaptação de Ronaldo Duran.