Adam Smith：The Wealth of Nations, Book II, Chapter III, Paragraph 842

The effects of misconduct are often the same as those of prodigality. Every injudicious and unsuccessful project in agriculture, mines, fisheries, trade, or manufactures, tends in the same manner to diminish the funds destined for the maintenance of productive labour. In every such project, though the capital is consumed by productive hands only, yet as, by the injudicious manner in which they are employed, they do not reproduce the full value of their consumption, there must always be some diminution in what would otherwise have been the productive funds of the society.

Source： https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/3300
Locator：Book II, Chapter III, paragraph 842 · Verified：2026-10-19 · Verification：Exact match

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