Profits, not wages, as the originary factor

Adam Smith says that there were first workers earning wages, but then came the capitalists and extracted profits from those wages.

But in fact if that primitive state ever existed there were no workers, but entrepreneursearning profit. And since they were not capitalists (“capitalist” defined as someone that buys with the intent of selling) they were earning an infinite rate of profit.

When capitalists came they were responsible for introducing costs (investment) reducing thus the rate of profit – and the more capitalistic the society the smaller the rate of profits.

– George Reisman in https://www.bobmurphyshow.com/139