BENTHAM, Jeremy.

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Defence of Usury; Shewing the Impolicy of the Present legal Restraints on the terms of Pecuniary Bargains. First edition of the author's scarce first work on economics, critiquing Smith's Wealth of Nations. Smith is reported to have said that Bentham "has given me some hard knocks... but in so handsome a manner that I cannot complain" (quoted in Atkinson Milner, p. 82).In the Wealth of Nations (1776), Smith defends the state regulation of interest rates for money lending. Bentham deems this inconsistent with Smith's wider laissez-faire philosophy and contends that no adult of sound mind, acting freely and in awareness of the likely consequences, should be hindered from making any bargain that they see fit to make.John Stuart Mill acclaimed the Defence of Usury as "the best extant writing" on the economic impact of regulated interest rates (quoted in Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy).

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