# Adam Smith — Progress and Poverty character guide > Adam Smith in Progress and Poverty by Henry George. **Role:** supporting **Also known as:** Smith, Dr. Adam Smith, Adam, Dr. Smith, Equality Adam Smith **First appearance:** 0008-book-i-wages-and-capital ## Snapshot The founding economist whose wages-and-capital framework George both honors and dismantles, treating him as a brilliant predecessor who missed the deeper law. ## Who they are Smith stands as the towering authority whose theories on how wages are paid from capital George methodically overturns, arguing instead that each laborer creates his own wages. The tension is respectful but sharp: George admires Smith's ambition while insisting his system cannot explain why wages fall as population and wealth grow. Smith matters because toppling his capital-wages theory is the first decisive move that clears ground for George's own distribution laws. ## Relationships ### [Thomas Malthus](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/progress_and_poverty_se/characters/thomas_malthus) _rivalry_ Smith's optimistic view of economic growth is contrasted with Malthus's pessimistic population theory, creating a fundamental ideological conflict. ### [David Ricardo](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/progress_and_poverty_se/characters/david_ricardo) _professional_ Smith and Ricardo are linked as foundational classical economists, with Ricardo building upon and sometimes revising Smith's labor theory of value. ### [John Stuart Mill](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/progress_and_poverty_se/characters/john_stuart_mill) _professional_ Smith and Mill are linked as major figures in the classical tradition, with Mill often seen as synthesizing and advancing Smith's ideas. ### [Henry Buckle](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/progress_and_poverty_se/characters/henry_buckle) _professional_ Buckle's historical method is used to support or challenge Smith's economic individualism, linking them as thinkers about social progress. ### [Herbert Spencer](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/progress_and_poverty_se/characters/herbert_spencer) _rivalry_ Smith's classical liberalism is contrasted with Spencer's later laissez-faire extremism, representing a divergence in liberal thought. ### [John Stuart Mill](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/progress_and_poverty_se/characters/john_stuart_mill) _professional_ Smith and Mill are linked as major figures in the classical tradition, with Mill often seen as synthesizing and advancing Smith's ideas. ### [Thomas Malthus](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/progress_and_poverty_se/characters/thomas_malthus) _rivalry_ Smith's optimistic view of economic growth is contrasted with Malthus's pessimistic population theory, creating a fundamental ideological conflict. ### [David Ricardo](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/progress_and_poverty_se/characters/david_ricardo) _professional_ Smith and Ricardo are linked as foundational classical economists, with Ricardo building upon and sometimes revising Smith's labor theory of value. ### [Henry Buckle](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/progress_and_poverty_se/characters/henry_buckle) _professional_ Buckle's historical method is used to support or challenge Smith's economic individualism, linking them as thinkers about social progress. ### [John Stuart Mill](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/progress_and_poverty_se/characters/john_stuart_mill) _professional_ Smith and Mill are linked as major figures in the classical tradition, with Mill often seen as synthesizing and advancing Smith's ideas. ## In the story ### [Preface to the Fourth Edition](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/progress_and_poverty_se/chapters/preface-to-the-fourth-edition) Mentioned as part of the school of thought whose truths George seeks to unite with those of Proudhon and Lasalle. ### [Book I: Wages and Capital](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/progress_and_poverty_se/chapters/book-i-wages-and-capital) Smith's views on wages and capital are referenced as part of the established economic theory being critiqued. ### [I: The Current Doctrine of Wages—Its Insufficiency](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/progress_and_poverty_se/chapters/i-the-current-doctrine-of-wages-its-insufficiency) Mentioned as part of the succession of economists who accepted the wage-fund theory. ### [II: The Meaning of the Terms](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/progress_and_poverty_se/chapters/ii-the-meaning-of-the-terms) Mentioned for counting personal qualities as capital, an error inconsistent with his own definition. ### [III: Wages Not Drawn from Capital, but Produced by the Labor](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/progress_and_poverty_se/chapters/iii-wages-not-drawn-from-capital-but-produced-by-the-labor) Smith is cited for recognizing that in simple production, wages are the produce of labor, but criticized for abandoning this insight in favor of the view that wages are drawn from capital. ### [I: The Malthusian Theory, Its Genesis and Support](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/progress_and_poverty_se/chapters/i-the-malthusian-theory-its-genesis-and-support) Held a rudimentary form of the Malthusian theory, which influenced his views on wages. ### [III: Inferences from Analogy](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/progress_and_poverty_se/chapters/iii-inferences-from-analogy) Smith is referenced for his observation that poor women often have many children, supporting the narrator's point about differential birth rates. ### [Book III: The Laws of Distribution](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/progress_and_poverty_se/chapters/book-iii-the-laws-of-distribution) Smith's foundational work on political economy is discussed. ### [Epigraph](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/progress_and_poverty_se/chapters/epigraph) Quoted on the evolution of inventions and philosophical systems from complexity to simplicity. ### [I: The Inquiry Narrowed to the Laws of Distribution—The Necessary Relation of These Laws](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/progress_and_poverty_se/chapters/i-the-inquiry-narrowed-to-the-laws-of-distribution-the-necessary-relation-of-these-laws) Referenced as the originator of the confusion in economic terminology, followed uncritically by later economists. ### [VI: Wages and the Law of Wages](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/progress_and_poverty_se/chapters/vi-wages-and-the-law-of-wages) Cited for his observation that high wages in new colonies result from open land and no rent, and for his enumeration of circumstances causing wage variations between employments. ### [Book IV: Effect of Material Progress Upon the Distribution of Wealth](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/progress_and_poverty_se/chapters/book-iv-effect-of-material-progress-upon-the-distribution-of-wealth) Referenced for his views on the division of labor and economic growth. ### [The Proposition Tried by the Canons of Taxation](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/progress_and_poverty_se/chapters/iii-the-proposition-tried-by-the-canons-of-taxation) Referenced for his view that incomes are 'enjoyed under the protection of the state,' which is used to argue for equal taxation of property. ### [As to Equality](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/progress_and_poverty_se/chapters/iv-as-to-equality) Cited for his canon that subjects should contribute in proportion to their abilities and revenue, and for the idea that incomes are enjoyed under the protection of the state. ### [Endnotes](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/progress_and_poverty_se/chapters/endnotes) His definition of capital is noted as prior to Malthus, contrasted with later economists. ## 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