Barter, Division of Labor, Wealth

While Self-Interest, Profit-Seeking, and Competitiveness are each associated with Capitalism, none is the behavioral principle in which Smith actually grounds his system.  Rather, as he plainly articulates at the outset of Wealth of Nations, Economic growth is a function of Division of Labor, which originates in a "propensity to barter" that he observes to be unique to humans.  In other words, as he conceives it, bartering gives rise to specialization, which is organized as Division of Labor, thereby increasing productivity, and, hence, profits.  Thus, any value that he attributes to those Egoistic drives is framed by the context of exchange.  However, one ideal sometimes glorified by some contemporary Capitalists--Self-Sufficiency--is clearly antithetical to Smith's vision.