On the Economy of Machinery and Manufactures

Answers

• Q17LABOR

  Does introducing labor-saving machinery improve workers' lives?

  Yes. on balance; displacement is temporary. Machinery first displaces labour, but lower prices raise demand and soon reabsorb most or all of the displaced workers.

  404. One of the objections most frequently urged against machinery is, that it has a tendency to supersede much of the hand labour which was previously employed; and in fact unless a machine diminished the labour necessary to make an article, it could never come into use. But if it have that effect, its owner, in order to extend the sale of his produce, will be obliged to undersell his competitors; this will induce them also to introduce the new machine, and the effect of this competition will soon cause the article to fall, until the profits on capital, under the new system, shall be reduced to the same rate as under the old. Although, therefore, the use of machinery has at first a tendency to throw labour out of employment, yet the increased demand consequent upon the reduced price, almost immediately absorbs a considerable portion of that labour, and perhaps, in some cases, the whole of what would otherwise have been displaced.

  Chapter 32: On the Effect of Machinery in Reducing the Demand for Labour · Downloaded Gutenberg #4238; confirmed chapter 32 title and §404 text.

• Q24DEPENDENCE

  Does using calculating devices weaken the ability to calculate without them?

  Calculation need not require skill. De Prony's tables were computed by workers who knew only addition and subtraction and were more accurate than skilled mathematicians; this shows calculation can be done by machinery.

  Third section. The members of this section, whose number varied from sixty to eighty, received certain numbers from the second section, and, using nothing more than simple addition and subtraction, they returned to that section the tables in a finished state. It is remarkable that nine-tenths of this class had no knowledge of arithmetic beyond the two first rules which they were thus called upon to exercise, and that these persons were usually found more correct in their calculations, than those who possessed a more extensive knowledge of the subject. 245. When it is stated that the tables thus computed occupy seventeen large folio volumes, some idea may perhaps be formed of the labour. From that part executed by the third class, which may almost be termed mechanical, requiring the least knowledge and by far the greatest exertions, the first class were entirely exempt. Such labour can always be purchased at an easy rate. … but when the completion of a calculating engine shall have produced a substitute for the whole of the third section of computers, the attention of analysts will naturally be directed to simplifying its application, by a new discussion of the methods of converting analytical formulae into numbers.

  Chapter 20, §§ 241–248 · Downloaded Gutenberg #4238; confirmed de Prony account and §247 in Chapter 20.

• Q25DEPENDENCE

  Does relying on machinery for ordinary necessities reduce people's ability to provide for themselves?

  No. machinery increases what people can provide for themselves. Argues that a machine which halves the time needed to make an article lets a self-supplying household enjoy the same comforts with less labour, and that displaced labour is soon reabsorbed.

  Although, therefore, the use of machinery has at first a tendency to throw labour out of employment, yet the increased demand consequent upon the reduced price, almost immediately absorbs a considerable portion of that labour, and perhaps, in some cases, the whole of what would otherwise have been displaced. That the effect of a new machine is to diminish the labour required for the production of the same quantity of manufactured commodities may be clearly perceived, by imagining a society, in which occupations are not divided, each man himself manufacturing all the articles he consumes. Supposing each individual to labour during ten hours daily, one of which is devoted to making shoes, it is evident that if any tool or machine be introduced, by the use of which his shoes can be made in half the usual time, then each member of the community will enjoy the same comforts as before by only nine and one-half hours' labour.

  Chapter 32, "On the Effect of Machinery in Reducing the Demand for Labour" · Gutenberg #4238; Chapter 32 opening paragraphs (§404) read.

• Q32CIVILIZATION

  Is widespread use of machinery evidence that a society is more civilized?

  Yes. mechanical economy advances with civilization. Says a country must have reached a high degree of civilization before it approaches the limit of economy in applying force to transport.

  Chapter 1, §19 · Gutenberg #4238; §19 read. §19 falls in Chapter 1.