Tawny are the leaves turned but they still hold, And it is harvest; what shall this land produce? A meagre hill of kernels, a runnel of juice; Declension looks from our land, it is old. Therefore let us assemble, dry, gray, spare, And mild as yellow air.

-Ransom,John Crowe
  Chills and Fever,'Antique Harvesters'.

The rate of profit does not, like rent and wages, rise with the prosperity, and fall with the declension, of the society.On the contrary, it is naturally low in rich, and high in poor countries, and it is always highest in the countries which are going fastest to ruin.

-Smith, Adam
  An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of theWealth of Nations, bk.1, ch.11, conclusion.