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Source identified
“The real price of every thing, what every thing really costs to the man who wants to acquire it, is the toil and trouble of acquiring it.”

Adam Smith

Source
The Wealth of Nations
Date
1776
Attribution
Source identified
Meaning

What does this quote mean?

Smith distinguishes nominal money price from the labour and sacrifice required to acquire something, making cost broader than the number printed on a transaction.

Source context

Where does it come from?

The Wealth of Nations, Book I, Chapter V; Project Gutenberg #3300. This belongs to Smith’s labour-command discussion of real and nominal price.

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