public, who have generally an interest to deceive and even to opprress the public, and who accordingly have, upon many occasions, both deceived and oppressed it.The Wealth of Nations, p267On competition:The natural price, or the price of free competition...is the lowest which can be taken, not upon every occasion indeed, but for any considerable time together...*It* is the lowest which the sellers can commonly afford to take, and at the same time continue their business.The Wealth of Nations, , Book I, Chapter VII, p63In a free trade an effectual combination cannot be established by the unanimous consent of every single trader, and it cannot last longer than every single trader continues of the same mind.The Wealth of Nations, , Book I, Chapter X, p130In every profession, the exertion of the greater part of those who exercise it, is always in proportion to the necessity they are under of making that exertion... and, where competition is free, the rivalship of competitors, who are all endeavouring to justle one another out of employment, obliges every man to endeavour to execute his work with a certain degree of exactness... Rivalship and emulation render excellency, even in mean professions, an object of ambition, and frequently occasion the very greatest exertions.The Wealth of Nations , p717Demand:A very poor man may be said in some sense to have a demand for a coach and six; he might live to have it; but his demand is not an effectual demand, and the commodity can never be brought to market in order to satisfy it.The Wealth of Nations, , Book I, Chapter VII, p58The desire of food is limited in every man by the narrow capacity of the human stomach; but the desire of the conveniences and ornaments of building, dress, equipage and household furniture, seems to have no limit or certain boundary.The Wealth of Nations, , Book I, Chapter XI, Part II, p165...
