Do not take peace for granted
- Is trade a promoter of peace? Adam Smith, one of the earliest defenders of trade, worries that commerce may instigate some perverse incentives, encouraging wars. The wealth that commerce generates decreases the relative cost of wars, increases the ability to finance wars through debts, which decreases their perceived cost, and increases the willingness of commercial interests to use wars to extend their markets, increasing the number and prolonging the length of wars. Smith, therefore, cannot assume that trade would yield a peaceful world. While defending and promoting trade, Smith warns us not to take peace for granted.
| Author details: | Maria Pia PaganelliGND, Reinhard SchumacherORCiDGND |
|---|---|
| DOI: | https://doi.org/10.1093/cje/bey040 |
| ISSN: | 0309-166X |
| ISSN: | 1464-3545 |
| Title of parent work (English): | Cambridge journal of economics |
| Subtitle (English): | Adam Smith’s warning on the relation between commerce and war |
| Publisher: | Oxford Univ. Press |
| Place of publishing: | Oxford |
| Publication type: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Date of first publication: | 2018/10/12 |
| Publication year: | 2018 |
| Release date: | 2021/02/15 |
| Tag: | Adam Smith; Commercial peace; Doux commerce; Perceived cost versus actual cost of war; Special interests |
| Volume: | 43 |
| Issue: | 3 |
| Number of pages: | 13 |
| First page: | 785 |
| Last Page: | 797 |
| Organizational units: | Wirtschafts- und Sozialwissenschaftliche Fakultät / Wirtschaftswissenschaften / Fachgruppe Volkswirtschaftslehre |
| DDC classification: | 3 Sozialwissenschaften / 33 Wirtschaft / 330 Wirtschaft |
| Peer review: | Referiert |
| Publishing method: | Open Access / Green Open-Access |
