Based on an appraisal of Smith's (nonutilitarian) understanding of happiness in The Theory of Moral Sentiments, this article considers the possible origin, meaning, and fate of the “real measure” qua index of social happiness/welfare. It is suggested that the original welfare usage was a measure of the happiness of laborers in terms of their “sacrifice” to obtain the necessaries and conveniences of life. However, although the welfare origins of the measure are discernable in The Wealth of Nations, it is argued that the real measure had come to be used by Smith for purposes that were related only indirectly, if at all, to the measurement of happiness/welfare. The article suggests reasons for Smith's abandonment of a welfare role for the standard, including the possibility that he had made a tactical decision to downplay his welfare concerns.

The text of this article is only available as a PDF.
Aristotle.
1966
. The Nicomachean Ethics. In
The Ethics of Aristotle
, edited by J. A. K. Thompson. Harmondsworth: Penguin.
Blaug, M.
1959
. Welfare Indices in The Wealth of Nations.
Southern Economic Journal
26.2
:
150
–53.
———.
1996
.
Economic Theory in Retrospect
. 5th ed. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Bonar, James.
1922
.
Philosophy and Political Economy
. London: George Allen & Unwin.
Bowley, M.
1973
.
Studies in the History of Economic Theory before 1870
. London: Macmillan.
Brown, V.
1994
.
Adam Smith's Discourse
. London: Routledge.
Cicero.
1971
. Discussions at Tusculum. Translated by M. Grant. In
Cicero on the Good Life
, edited by M. Grant. London: Penguin.
Dobb, M.
1973
.
Theories of Value and Distribution since Adam Smith
. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Evensky, J.
2005
.
Adam Smith's Moral Philosophy
. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Grampp, W. D.
1948
. Adam Smith and the Economic Man.
Journal of Political Economy
56.4
:
315
–36.
Hollander, S.
1973
.
The Economics of Adam Smith
. London: Heinemann.
Hont, I., and M. Ignatieff.
1983
. Needs and Justice in the Wealth of Nations: An Introductory Essay. In
Wealth and Virtue
, edited by I. Hont and M. Ignatieff. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Hueckel, G.
1998
. Smith's Uniform “Toil and Trouble”: A Vain Subtlety?
Journal of the History of Economic Thought
20.2
:
215
–33.
Hutcheson, F.
1755
.
A System of Moral Philosophy, in Three Books
. Glasgow: R. & A. Foulis.
Jevons, W. S. [1871]
1965
.
The Theory of Political Economy
. 5th ed. New York: Augustus M. Kelley.
Levy, D.
1995
. The Partial Spectator in the Wealth of Nations: A Robust Utilitarianism.
European Journal of the History of Economic Thought
2.2
:
299
–326.
Marshall, A. [1890]
1920
.
Principles of Economics
. 8th ed. London: Macmillan.
Meek, R. L.
1973
.
Studies in the Labour Theory of Value
. 2nd ed. London: Lawrence and Wishart.
Morrow, G.
1928
. Adam Smith: Moralist and Philosopher. In
Adam Smith, 1776–1926
. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
Myint, H.
1948
.
Theories of Welfare Economics
. London: Longmans, Green and Co.
Nicholson, J. S. [1887]
2000
. Editorial introduction to The Wealth of Nations. In vol.
3
of
Adam Smith: Critical Responses
, edited by H. Mizuta. London: Routledge.
O'Brien, D. P.
2004
.
The Classical Economists Revisited
. Princeton: Princeton University Press.
Observations on Certain Verbal Disputes in Political Economy
.
1821
. London: Hunter.
O'Donnell, R.
1990
.
Adam Smith's Theory of Value and Distribution
. London: Macmillan.
Peach, T.
2008
. A Note of Dissent on the “Index Number” Interpretation of Adam Smith's “Real Measure.”
Cambridge Journal of Economics
32.5
:
821
–26.
———.
2009
. Adam Smith and the Labor Theory of (Real) Value: A Reconsideration.
HOPE
41.2
:
383
–406.
Raphael, D. D., and A. L. Macfie.
1976
. Introduction to
The Theory of Moral Sentiments
. Oxford: Clarendon Press.
Schumpeter, J. A.
1954
.
History of Economic Analysis
. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Seneca.
2005
. On Tranquillity of Mind. Translated by C. D. N. Costa. In
Seneca: Dialogues and Letters
, edited by C. D. N. Costa. London: Penguin.
Smith, A. [1759]
1976
.
The Theory of Moral Sentiments
. Edited by D. D. Raphael and A. L. Macfie. Oxford: Clarendon Press.
———. [1776]
1976
.
An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations
. Edited by R. H. Campbell, A. S. Skinner, and W. B. Todd. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
———.
1978a
. “Early Draft” of The Wealth of Nations. In
Lectures on Jurisprudence
, edited by R. L. Meek, D. D. Raphael, and L. G. Stein. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
———.
1978b
.
Lectures on Jurisprudence
. Edited by R. L. Meek, D. D. Raphael, and L. G. Stein. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Sowell, T.
1979
. Adam Smith in Theory and Practice. In
Adam Smith and Modern Political Economy
, edited by G. P. O'Driscoll. Ames: Iowa State University Press.
Stewart, D. [1793]
1980
. Account of the Life and Writings of Adam Smith, LL.D. In
Adam Smith: Essays on Philosophical Subjects
, edited by W. P. D. Wightman, J. C. Bryce, and I. S. Ross. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Taylor, O. H.
1960
.
A History of Economic Thought
. New York: McGraw-Hill.
Winch, D.
1978
.
Adam Smith's Politics: An Essay in Historiographic Revision
. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
———.
1996
.
Riches and Poverty: An Intellectual History of Political Economy in Britain, 1750–1834
. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.