
Contents
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From Private Conspiracy to State Policy: The Merchants and the Mercantile System From Private Conspiracy to State Policy: The Merchants and the Mercantile System
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Lessons from History: Wealth, Power, Law Lessons from History: Wealth, Power, Law
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Warnings from India: When Merchants Turn Sovereign Warnings from India: When Merchants Turn Sovereign
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Political Judgement in Commercial Conditions Political Judgement in Commercial Conditions
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Conclusion Conclusion
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Cite
Abstract
This chapter tackles Adam Smith's major concerns about the commercial society. According to Smith, instead of the threat of moral corruption, advanced European commercial societies face the threat of political dangers from the merchant and manufacturing classes' systemic corruption. Smith's account of the conspiracy of the merchants is embedded in his wider assessment of the political condition of modern Europe. In his final analysis, Smith deemed merchants dangerous but necessary to modern commercial society in an effort to continue operation and flourish simultaneously. The chapter cites that politicians of today are still highly vulnerable to the influence of merchant elites.
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