22 lines
920 B
Markdown
22 lines
920 B
Markdown
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<!-- generated: provider=openrouter model=arcee-ai/trinity-large-preview:free date=2026-02-19 source=book-4-chapter-08 -->
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# Consumption as the End of Production
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## Definition
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The principle that the ultimate purpose of all economic activity is to satisfy consumer wants and needs, with production serving merely as a means to this end. This fundamental concept inverts the mercantile system's focus on production and export, arguing that economic policy should prioritise consumer welfare over producer interests.
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## Source Chapter
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Book IV, Chapter 8
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## Context
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Smith presents this principle as the key to understanding proper economic policy. He demonstrates how the mercantile system's sacrifice of consumer interests to producer interests represents a fundamental misunderstanding of economic purpose, leading to policies that reduce rather than increase national wealth.
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## Economic Domain
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Consumption
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---
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