book 1

, chap. vii.

The price of a thing, in most cases, consists of three distinct elements--the wages of the labour, the profit of the master who directs the labour, and the rent of the ground that furnishes the materials on which it is erected. There are, however, some descriptions of merchandize in which the rent forms no part of the price; and others, in which the profit forms no part of it; but none, in which it is not formed principally by the wages-- book 1 , chap. vi.

Of _wages_. Laws, according to which the natural rate of wages is fixed; accidental circumstances which cause them to vary, during a short period, from that natural rate-- book 1 , chap. viii.

Of the _profit_ of capitals. Laws, by which the natural right of profit is fixed; accidental circumstances which, for a long while, increase or diminish it beyond that rate--