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Commentary

Commentary

AI & The Wealth of Nations – The Role of Capital

Adam Smith organized the economy around three factors of production: labor, land, and capital. Each earned its return – wages, rent, and profit. He did not present this as a neutral description. He was acutely aware of how power moved among the three groups, and he was consistently suspicious of capital owners in ways his […]

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Commentary

AI & The Wealth of Nations – Productive vs. Unproductive Labor

Adam Smith made an uncomfortable distinction in The Wealth of Nations that his admirers often skip over. He separated labor that creates lasting, compounding value – the kind that builds something – from labor that is consumed the moment it is produced and leaves nothing behind. The distinction was contested in 1776, and it remains […]

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