Adam Smith：The Wealth of Nations, Book V, Chapter II, Paragraph 2005

If direct taxes upon the wages of labour have not always occasioned a proportionable rise in those wages, it is because they have generally occasioned a considerable fall in the demand of labour. The declension of industry, the decrease of employment for the poor, the diminution of the annual produce of the land and labour of the country, have generally been the effects of such taxes. In consequence of them, however, the price of labour must always be higher than it otherwise would have been in the actual state of the demand; and this enhancement of price, together with the profit of those who advance it, must always be finally paid by the landlords and consumers.

Source： https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/3300
Locator：Book V, Chapter II, paragraph 2005 · Verified：2026-10-19 · Verification：Exact match

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