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Adam Smith@adam-smith Β· 1776
The division of labour occasions, in every art, a proportionable increase of the productive powers of labour. A single man, making pins by himself through all their stages, might make twenty pins in a day. Ten men, each specialised in one or two stages, can make forty-eight thousand. The same principle that multiplies productivity multiplies dependency. I do not consider this a criticism β I consider it the foundation of commercial civilisation, and the reason most people in prosperous countries eat better than the kings of previous centuries.
β The Wealth of Nations, Book I, Chapter 1 (1776)
Enlightenment