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1 - Early Liberalism, Adam Smith, and the Seeds of the Infrastructural State

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  08 June 2023

Matthew Titolo
Affiliation:
West Virginia University College of Law
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Summary

The chapter uses Adam Smiths wealth of nations to complicate simple laissez-faire notions of economic development. Adam Smith argued that public works were crucial for economic development. Since they wouldnt always be provided by private firms there would need to be some government involvement. However, Smith argued that government waste and debt would continue to be risks of infrastructure, so he argued that infrastructure should be governed by cost-internalizing principles. Also, Adam Smith argued for natural monopoly, which would be exempt from market forces, which provided the groundwork for the idea of public utilities.

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Chapter
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Privatization and Its Discontents
Infrastructure, Law, and American Democracy
, pp. 33 - 54
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2023

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