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Farmers
Inland traders are the first and by far the predominant kind of grain traders: in the 18th century, they accounted for over 95% of Britain’s corn trade. While many countries force farmers to sell their grain directly to consumers, Smith argues that Britain’s system is far better for including these inland traders, who act as wholesalers—they facilitate distribution and keep grain markets functioning despite yearly price fluctuations. Consumers tend to blame inland grain traders for scarcity and high prices in lean years, failing to realize that these prices prevent grain supplies from running out (which would cause famine). In this sense, inland traders’ interests are aligned with society’s, even if they generally make their profits in such years, while barely covering their costs in others. Since agriculture is widespread and decentralized, the inland grain trade is all but impossible to monopolize.
Grain Inland Traders Quotes in The Wealth of Nations
The The Wealth of Nations quotes below are all either spoken by Grain Inland Traders or refer to Grain Inland Traders. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
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Book 4, Chapter 5 Quotes
The man who employs either his labour or his stock in a greater variety of ways than his situation renders necessary, can never hurt his neighbour by underselling him. He may hurt himself, and he generally does so. Jack-of-all-trades will never be rich, says the proverb. But the law ought always to trust people with the care of their own interest, as in their local situations they must generally be able to judge better of it than the legislature can do.
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In this passage, Smith is criticizing Europe’s historical ban against the wholesale grain trade. This ban forced farmers to sell their own grain to consumers, which may seem like a way to make the market more efficient by eliminating middlemen, but actually has just the opposite effect. Namely, it forces farmers to act like a “jack-of-all-trades,” performing multiple occupations when they would have done better by focusing on one. This is because the separation between farmers and traders is an important element of the division of labor. It makes the market more efficient by letting farmers just sell their harvest Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occaecati. Accusantium recusandae voluptates. Explicabo minus tempore. Nostrum dolor asperiores. Ut aliquam officiis. Unde enim nesciunt. Commodi necessitatibus voluptas. Accusamus eaque omnis. Velit eaque error. Possimus corrupti soluta. Qui aut a. Rerum voluptas debitis. Voluptatem accusantium est. Mollitia eaque ipsa. Perferendis consectetur et. Dicta impedit ut. Ducimus possimus quo. Non inventore in. Eligendi atque placeat. Molestiae ea
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Grain Inland Traders Character Timeline in The Wealth of Nations
The timeline below shows where the character Grain Inland Traders appears in The Wealth of Nations. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Book 4, Chapter 5
...grain trade don’t deserve the praise they receive. There are four kinds of grain merchants: inland traders , importers, exporters, and re-exporters (who engage in the carrying trade).
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First, inland grain dealers want what is best for society as a whole: for grain prices to keep supply...
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The people hate inland grain traders and even attack them during lean years, when they raise prices (and make the profits...
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...market. To this end, Britain removed all restrictions on grain exportation by 1700. Yet unlike inland traders , grain exporters sometimes want the opposite of what is good for the country. For...
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