Justice and Profit

Basic Exchange in Smith's system is governed by a tendency toward balance, i. e. a surplus of each party fills a deficiency of the other. Likewise, the Invisible Hand guides the Market in general to an equilibrium of Supply and Demand. In other words, his system, writ both small and large, is governed by a principle of Justice. Now, the relation between Justice and the system's apparent highest Good, Wealth, is not explicit, though some passages seem to suggest an implicit trickle-down of any excess to where goods are needed. So, likewise, Profit is not an end-in-itself in his version of Capitalism, despite the advocacy to the contrary of some of Smith's successors.