Tobacco, textiles, and wine: the immortal Adam Smith

Nota bene: This is the next installment of my multi-part review of Adam Smith’s 1784 pamphlet Additions and Corrections to the First and Second Editions of Dr. Adam Smith’s Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations. Addition #6 (pp. 6-9) consists of nine paragraphs and is the fourth longest addition in Smith’s pamphlet. Here, Smith demonstrates his personal knowledge of one specific corner of Britain’s complex web of trade laws: drawbacks. A “drawback” is a refund or rebate of customs duties or tariffs. Smith explains in meticulous detail how British merchants are entitled to draw back one-half of the duties they paid on most imported goods if they re-exported those goods to other countries within a certain time frame, but he also mentions how this drawback policy became more complex and convoluted over time: “This general rule, however, is liable to a great number of exceptions, and the doctrine of drawbacks has become a much less simple matter, than it was at their…