Les capitalistes et les législateurs. À propos du système de la liberté naturelle selon Adam Smith

This paper shows that exists a continuity between the Mercantile System (Smith?s adversary) and the System of Natural Liberty advocated for in the Wealth of Nations. This continuity is founded on the distance between legislators and merchants. When this distance is too short, legislators are partial for they confuse merchant?s interest with general interest. When this distance is too long, the consequence may be anarchy and civil war. So between the two it exists an optimal distance which may characterize the System of Natural Liberty, which is necessary for impartial legislators. Classification JEL : B12, N41, N43<np pagenum="338"/>