Adam Smith：The Wealth of Nations, Book I, Chapter VIII, Paragraph 225

In years of plenty, servants frequently leave their masters, and trust their subsistence to what they can make by their own industry. But the same cheapness of provisions, by increasing the fund which is destined for the maintenance of servants, encourages masters, farmers especially, to employ a greater number. Farmers, upon such occasions, expect more profit from their corn by maintaining a few more labouring servants, than by selling it at a low price in the market. The demand for servants increases, while the number of those who offer to supply that demand diminishes. The price of labour, therefore, frequently rises in cheap years.

Source： https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/3300
Locator：Book I, Chapter VIII, paragraph 225 · Verified：2026-10-19 · Verification：Exact match

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