Economics/Government 2. According to Adam Smith, why do people bother working hard?

3. Why can't we expect the butcher and the baker to just give us dinner?

Answer and Explanation:

2. According to Adam Smith, why do people bother working hard?

“When we consider the condition of the great, in those delusive colors in which the imagination is apt to paint it, it seems to be almost the abstract idea of a perfect and happy state.”

According to Adam Smith, people tend to cling to the idea that the wealthy are happy. Therefore, they work hard not to simply supply their most basic needs - that could be done with little money -, but to achieve the wealth they believe will bring them happiness. There is also a bit of vanity involved, since working hard is not, by itself, a pleasure. But flaunting one's money is.

3. Why can't we expect the butcher and the baker to just give us dinner?

"It is not from the benevolence of the butcher, the brewer, or the baker, that we expect our dinner, but from their regard to their own interest."

The butcher and the baker are not working because we need them to do so in order to eat. They do not do it for us, for our sake. They do it for their own benefit - to make money out of it. They will never - nor should we expect them to - give us our dinner for free. We must pay for it, make it worth their time and energy, make it profitable so that they will keep on doing it.

uncle sam would be tossing and turning in his grave : *)