Adam Smith：The Wealth of Nations, Book II, Chapter II, Paragraph 766

What a bank can with propriety advance to a merchant or undertaker of any kind, is not either the whole capital with which he trades, or even any considerable part of that capital; but that part of it only which he would otherwise be obliged to keep by him unemployed and in ready money, for answering occasional demands. If the paper money which the bank advances never exceeds this value, it can never exceed the value of the gold and silver which would necessarily circulate in the country if there was no paper money; it can never exceed the quantity which the circulation of the country can easily absorb and employ.

Source： https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/3300
Locator：Book II, Chapter II, paragraph 766 · Verified：2026-10-19 · Verification：Exact match

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