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# Modern States Inversion

## Definition

The reversal of the natural economic development order in European states, where foreign commerce and manufacturing preceded and stimulated agricultural improvement rather than following it. This unnatural progression resulted from historical circumstances including foreign commerce introducing finer manufactures, combined with governmental structures and customs that forced societies into this retrograde development sequence.

## Source Chapter

Book III, Chapter 1

## Context

Smith identifies this as a key departure from natural economic development, explaining how European states achieved agricultural improvement through the artificial stimulus of manufacturing and foreign trade rather than the natural progression from agriculture to manufacturing to commerce.

## Economic Domain

General Theory

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