Adam Smith：The Wealth of Nations, Book V, Chapter I, Paragraph 1743

The only trades which it seems possible for a joint-stock company to carry on successfully, without an exclusive privilege, are those, of which all the operations are capable of being reduced to what is called a routine, or to such a uniformity of method as admits of little or no variation. Of this kind is, first, the banking trade; secondly, the trade of insurance from fire and from sea risk, and capture in time of war; thirdly, the trade of making and maintaining a navigable cut or canal; and, fourthly, the similar trade of bringing water for the supply of a great city.

Source： https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/3300
Locator：Book V, Chapter I, paragraph 1743 · Verified：2026-10-19 · Verification：Exact match

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