ABUNDANCE, SCARCITY.

...all the vines in the world except our own: this is the theory of scarcity. Are we iron producers original: "iron-masters"? Our wish is that there should be no other iron in the market but our own, however much the public may need it; and for no other reason than that this need, keenly felt and poorly satisfied, will ensure us a higher price. This is still the theory of scarcity. Are we farmers? We say with Mr. Bugeaud Thomas Robert Bugeaud (1784–1849) was a French Marshal and politician who advocated for agricultural protectionism to keep domestic prices high., "Let bread be expensive—that is to say, scarce—and farmers original: "agriculturists" will thrive." It is always the same theory: the theory of scarcity.

Are we doctors original: "physicians"? We cannot avoid seeing that certain physical improvements original: "ameliorations" that better the public health original: "sanitary state" of the country, the development of certain moral virtues such as moderation and temperance, the progress of knowledge that enables each person to take better care of their own health, and the discovery of certain simple remedies that are easy to apply would all be blows to our professional success. In as far as we are doctors, then, our secret wishes would be anti-social. I do not say that doctors actually form these secret wishes. On the contrary, I believe they would welcome with joy the discovery of a universal cure-all original: "panacea"; but they would not do this as doctors, but as human beings and as Christians. By a noble act of self-denial original: "abnegation of self", the doctor puts himself in the consumer's point of view. But in practicing a profession from which he derives his own and his family's living, his desires—or, if you will, his interests—are anti-social.

Are we manufacturers of cotton fabrics original: "stuffs"? We desire to sell them at the price most profitable to ourselves. We would willingly consent to a ban original: "interdict" being placed on all rival manufacturers; and if we could venture to give this wish public expression, or hope to realize it with some chance of success, we would reach our end, to some extent, by indirect means. For example, by excluding foreign fabrics in order to diminish the supply, we would thus produce, forcibly and for our own profit, a scarcity of clothing.

In the same way, we might examine all other branches of industry, and we would always find that producers, acting as such, have anti-social views. “The shopkeeper,” says Montaigne Michel de Montaigne (1533–1592) was a famous French philosopher; this quote comes from his essay "The Profit of One Man is the Loss of Another.", “thrives only by the reckless spending original: "irregularities" of youth; the farmer by the high price of grain original: "corn"; the architect by the destruction of..."