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# Commercial Maxims Inversion

## Definition

The perverse economic principles that teach nations to view their neighbours' prosperity as a threat rather than an opportunity, leading to policies designed to beggar other nations rather than to maximize mutual benefit through free and open trade.

## Source Chapter

Book IV, Chapter 3

## Context

Smith criticizes how mercantile theory has inverted natural economic reasoning, causing nations to adopt policies that harm themselves while attempting to harm others, rather than pursuing the mutual prosperity that free trade would naturally produce.

## Economic Domain

General Theory

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