Wealth uniformly increases in proportion to the augmentation which the power producing it receives, whether that be in energy or in extent—book I. introduction.
Labour, in which this power increases in energy,
1. By the division of the parts of the same work;
2. By the invention of such machines as abridge and facilitate labour—book I, chap. i.
The division of labour adds to its energy,
1. By the skill which the workman in this way acquires;
2. By the saving of time—ibid.
The invention of machines is itself an effect of the division of labour—ibid.
The natural disposition of mankind to exchange with each other the different productions of their respective labours and talents, is the principle which has given birth to the division of labour—book I, chap. ii.
The division of labour must of course be limited by the extent of the market; therefore, whatever tends to widen the market, facilitates the progress of a nation towards opulence—book I, chap. iii.