  In 1772 Jacobi entrusted all his business affairs in the hands of his capable brother-in-law and accepted an invitation to join the governing body of the Duchy of Julich and Berg. His commission was to supervise the rationalization of local manufacturing and taxation practices. In 1779, he was also invited to Munich to conduct a similar reform in the Bavarian lands. In the same year, however, these official activities also came abruptly to an end. Jacobi’s liberal views quickly came under attack in the Court at Munich, and, embroiled in bitter controversies, Jacobi returned to his native Düsseldorf. The literary fall out of this episode was the publication (Jacobi, 1779 (1) &amp; (2)) of two essays in which Jacobi defended Adam Smith’s economic views. The first essay was published while Jacobi was still in office in Munich, and was itself a major cause of his troubles there.