Ihaveshewnhowthegreatamountoftaxescomestobetakenfromtheincomeofthoseindividualswhosefortuneisalreadymade，orwhosedailyprofitsareconsiderable:Ihavesuggestedhowcircumscribedtheexpenceofthisclassmustbe，whenconsideredwithrespecttotheemploymentitprocurestothebodyofapeople。Doesnottheexperienceofformeragesshowhowaptprivateopulenceistosinkintotreasures，whenatasteforindustrydoesnotanimatethelowerclassestocreatenewobjectsofdesireinthewealthy？Whereinisastatebenefitedbytheluxuriousgratificationsoftherich，unlessitbebytheemploymenttheyprocureforthosewhoprovidetheobjectsofluxury？Thoseverygratificationsare，inonesense，taxesupontherichinfavouroftheindustrious:theyincreaseexpence，andthrowmoneyintocirculation。InSpainandPortugal，whereindustryisnotintroducedamongthelowerclasses，thestrangersaretheywhoineffectlevysuchtaxesuponthem。Werethetaxestheypay，properlyappliedfortheencouragementofthearts，insteadofbeingappropriatedtoprivatepurposes，andtotheenrichingofprivatemen，whosetasteforexpenceisalwayscircumscribedtotheobjectsoftheirownwants，howsoonshouldweseethemvyingwithusineverymarketofEurope，andsupplyingthemselvesasfarastheircountryiscalculatedforit。
Thereciprocalwantsofindustriousnations，resemblethereciprocalwantsoftradesmen；allmaybeemployedinsupplyingoneanother，aswellasthemselves。
Whenadueproportionoftheamountoftaxesisproperlylaidoutinpremiums，fortheencouragementoftheindustrious，thepricesoflabouruponarticlesofexportation，maybebroughtsolow，thatallnationswhodonotfollowthelikepolicy，mustlanguishanddecay。Luxuryathomewillthenceasetohurttheforeigntradeofthenation。Inhertreatiesofcommerce，shemaythrowopenherportstomanyarticlesofforeignconsumption，withoutincurringanyinconveniencefromsuchallowances；whileontheotherhand，shewillreapthegreatestadvantagesfromareciprocalpermission。
TheexamplebywhichIhaveillustratedthenatureofpubliccontributions，mustnotbeunderstoodtotallywithrespecttoproportion。Itwouldbebothridiculousandimpossibletoreducealltheexpencesofrichmentothebarelysufficient。AllI
meantwas，toshewhowtaxes，whenproperlyapplied，maybeconsideredaspublicoeconomy；andhowthelevyingofthemhasnodirecttendencytohurtanationinpointofeaseandprosperity。