Do not take peace for granted: Adam Smith’s warning on the relation between commerce and war
探讨亚当·斯密对贸易促进和平这一观点的质疑，指出商业可能通过降低战争成本、增加债务融资和激发商业利益扩张，反而鼓励战争，提醒人们不要想当然地认为贸易会带来和平。
Is trade a promoter of peace? Adam Smith, one of the earliest defenders of trade, worries that commerce may instigate some perverse incentives, encouraging wars. The wealth that commerce generates decreases the relative cost of wars, increases the ability to finance wars through debts, which decreases their perceived cost, and increases the willingness of commercial interests to use wars to extend their markets, increasing the number and prolonging the length of wars. Smith, therefore, cannot assume that trade would yield a peaceful world. While defending and promoting trade, Smith warns us not to take peace for granted.