The greatest economists sought economic progress for a particular population so that they would suffer less and could live better. Suffering was caused by a lack of wealth but also, despite how paradoxical it may seem, from the manner in which wealth was increased. Bread without sweat does not seem possible under any circumstance, and yet sweat implied an undesired suffering, like that of giving birth, no matter how much the result is valued and wanted. How strongly are we bound by that curse so familiar to the Judeo-Christian tradition? The economy certainly is linked to that tradition when it affirms the necessity of costs that emerge in all attempts to obtain a benefit. © 2010 by University of Notre Dame Press. All rights reserved.