The Wealth of Nations · Character

The Employer

The generic master or capitalist whose bargaining power over wages, Smith insists, is always greater than the worker's — and who knows it.

supporting

Also known as himself, The employer, the employer

First appearance: VIII: Of the Wages of Labour

As a supporting figure in The Wealth of Nations, The Employer is not background color—the story leans on what they do once the chapter opens.

Implied in the discussion of the butcher, brewer, and baker who provide goods out of self-interest.

In the storyOf the Principle Which Gives Occasion to the Division of LabourOpen this moment free

Smith introduces the employer not as a villain but as a structural fact: masters are fewer, better organized, and can hold out longer than workmen, so 'combinations' of employers are tacit and durable while workers' combinations are noisy and illegal. The employer's interest is to keep wages low, and Smith notes drily that whenever masters meet, the conversation ends in a conspiracy against the public or in some contrivance to raise prices. This figure matters because he embodies Smith's refusal to sentimentalize capital: the market's harmony is real, but it is negotiated from unequal positions, and the reader who sees that will read the rest of the book differently.

See The Employer in Of the Principle Which Gives Occasion to the Division of Labour Book page

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Character Web

8 connections

A slice of how The Employer sits in the book — open the reader for the full interactive map.

Relationship types

Professional
Other

Character groups

Labor and wage dynamics
European national examples
Ancient authorities and examples

+3 more in the full Character Web

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Narrative arc

Story tension across the book — this chapter sits in Exposition.

Setup
Escalation
Breaking point
Aftermath
Closing

This passage marks the story's dramatic climax because it presents the emotional and psychological peak of Smi…

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Relationships

All Servants and Labourers
professional · ambivalent
All servants and labourers have a clear employer-employee relationship with the employer. How this plays out →

Relationship notes

How these ties play out is in the reading companion — open the free preview.

See The Employer in VIII: Of the Wages of Labour

In the story

The Employer appears across 17 companion beats. Open any chapter in the free preview to see the notes beside the text.

Of the Principle Which Gives Occasion to the Division of Labour
Implied in the discussion of the butcher, brewer, and baker who provide goods out of self-interest.
V: Of the Real and Nominal Price of Commodities, or of Their Price in Labour, and Their Price in Money
Referenced as the person who purchases labor and perceives its price as varying.
Of the Component Parts of the Price of Commodities
The undertaker who hazards stock in manufacturing, earning profit from the workmen's labor.
Of the Natural and Market Price of Commodities
Referred to as the person who advances wages and expects profit, central to the definition of natural price.
VIII: Of the Wages of Labour
The party in wage negotiations who seeks to lower wages; includes masters, landlords, and farmers.
X: Of Wages and Profit in the Different Employments of Labour and Stock
Merchants who employ carriers or sailors; their profits augment the price of imported goods.
I: Inequalities Arising from the Nature of the Employments Themselves
Mentioned in context of cotters receiving wages from their masters.
II: Inequalities Occasioned by the Policy of Europe
Employers in towns who benefit from the advantages of incorporated trades.
Of the Rent of Land
Constitutes the third order living by profit; their plans direct most useful labor, but profit does not rise with prosperity like rent and wages.
Conclusion of the Chapter
Those who live by profit; their interest often differs from and opposes the public interest, especially merchants and master manufacturers.
Book II: Of the Nature, Accumulation, and Employment of Stock
Represents those who employ stock in productive labor.
I: Of the Division of Stock
Discussed as the recipient of profit from fixed and circulating capitals, such as the farmer and master artificer.
II: Of Restraints Upon the Importation from Foreign Countries of Such Goods as Can Be Produced at Home
Used as an example of a prudent individual who buys rather than makes goods when cheaper to do so.
V: Of Bounties
Implied as the merchant or manufacturer who benefits from bounties.
VIII: Conclusion of the Mercantile System
Implied as the master manufacturers who benefit from cheap raw materials and export bounties.
Taxes Upon Profit, or Upon the Revenue Arising from Stock
The employer of stock who must receive compensation for risk and trouble, and may shift tax burdens.
Article III: Taxes Upon the Wages of Labour
Advances the tax on wages; in manufacturing, passes the cost to consumers; in agriculture, reduces rent paid to landlords.

Chapter companion notes

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See The Employer in VIII: Of the Wages of Labour

See The Employer in Of the Principle Which Gives Occasion to the Division of Labour