Book 1, Chapter 2 Summary and Analysis

One of the main points of the Editor's Introduction is that the work was not written in a short time. It took over 27 years for the author to assemble the entire manuscript. Once the work gets started in earnest, it becomes very clear that that author is actually setting out the main principles of a theory. The division of labor is the first of these. Here he describes how the sociological differentiation has fostered specialization and efficiency. The division of labor is determined largely by the marketplace. Trade routes and the like become vital the more that trade is extended to distant locations.

There are two crucial principles at work at this time. One is that the annual product of a nation is its real wealth, while money is merely used as an indicator of the actual products of...