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About this quote

What does it mean?
China is wealthier than any part of Europe.
In plain terms
China has more wealth than Europe.
What can you take from it?
China was historically richer than Europe.

Where it applies

  • economic history
  • international comparison
  • trade analysis

Putting it to work

  • study historical wealth data
  • compare economic metrics

Questions to consider

  • How is wealth measured here?
  • Does this hold today?

Another view

Wealth measures and definitions have changed over time.

More from Adam Smith

  1. China has been long one of the richest, that is, one of the most fertile, best cultivated, most industrious, and most populous countries in the world. It seems…

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  2. The retinue of a grandee in China or Indostan [sic] accordingly is, by all accounts, much more numerous and splendid than that of the richest subjects in Europ…

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  3. People of the same trade seldom meet together, even for merriment and diversion, but the conversation ends in a conspiracy against the public, or in some contr…

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