Introductory 1.The agents of production are commonly classed as Land, Labour and Capital.By Land is meant the material and the forces which Nature gives freely for man's aid, in land and water, in air and light and heat.By Labour is meant: the economic work of man, whether with the hand or the head.(1*) By Capital is meant all stored-up provision for the production of material goods, and for the attainment of those benefits which are commonly reckoned as part of income.It is the main stock of wealth regarded as an agent of production rather than as a direct source of gratification.
Capital consists in a great part of knowledge and organization: and of this some part is private property and other part is not.Knowledge is our most powerful engine of production;it enables us to subdue Nature and force her to satisfy our wants.Organization aids knowledge; it has many forms, e.g.that of a single business, that of various businesses in the same trade, that of various trades relatively to one another, and that of the State providing security for all and help for many.The distinction between public and private property in knowledge and organization is of great and growing importance: in some respects of more importance than that between public and private property in material things; and partly for that reason it seems best sometimes to reckon Organization apart as a distinct agent of production.It cannot be fully examined till a much later stage in our inquiry; but something has to be said of it in the present Book.
In a sense there are only two agents of production, nature and man.Capital and organization are the result of the work of man aided by nature, and directed by his power of forecasting the future and his willingness to make provision for it.If the character and powers of nature and of man be given, the growth of wealth and knowledge and organization follow from them as effect from cause.But on the other hand man is himself largely formed by his surroundings, in which nature plays a great part: and thus from every point of view man is the centre of the problem of production as well as that of consumption; and also of that further problem of the relations between the two, which goes by the twofold name of Distribution and Exchange.
The growth of mankind in numbers, in health and strength, in knowledge, ability, and in richness of character is the end of all our studies: but it is an aim to which economics can do no more than contribute some important elements.In its broader aspects therefore the study of this growth belongs to the end, if to any part of a treatise on economics: but does not properly belong even there.Meanwhile we cannot avoid taking account of the direct agency of man in production, and of the conditions which govern his efficiency as a producer.And on the whole it is perhaps the most convenient course, as it certainly is that most in accordance with English tradition, to include some account of the growth of population in numbers and character as a part of the general discussion of production.
2.It is not possible at this stage to do more than indicate very slightly the general relations between demand and supply, between consumption and production.But it may be well, while the discussion of utility and value is fresh in our minds, to take a short glance at the relations between value and the disutility or discommodity that has to be overcome in order to obtain those goods which have value because they are at once desirable and difficult of attainment.All that can be said now must be provisional; and may even seem rather to raise difficulties than to solve them: and there will be an advantage in having before us a map, in however slight and broken outline, of the ground to be covered.
While demand is based on the desire to obtain commodities, supply depends mainly on the overcoming of the unwillingness to undergo "discommodities." These fall generally under two heads:
-- labour, and the sacrifice involved in putting off consumption.
It must suffice here to give a sketch of the part played by ordinary labour in supply.It will be seen hereafter that remarks similar, though not quite the same, might have been made about the work of management and the sacrifice which is involved (sometimes, but not always) in that waiting which is involved in accumulating the means of production.
The discommodity of labour may arise from bodily or mental fatigue, or from its being carried on in unhealthy surroundings, or with unwelcome associates, or from its occupying time that is wanted for recreation, or for social or intellectual pursuits.
But whatever be the form of the discommodity, its intensity nearly always increases with the severity and the duration of labour.Of course much exertion is undergone for its own sake, as for instance in mountaineering, in playing games and in the pursuit of literature, of art, and of science; and much hard work is done under the influence of a desire to benefit others.(2*)But the chief motive to most labour, in our use of the term, is the desire to obtain some material advantage; which in the present state of the world appears generally in the form of the gain of a certain amount of money.It is true that even when a man is working for hire he often finds pleasure in his work: but he generally gets so far tired before it is done that he is glad when the hour for stopping arrives.Perhaps after he has been out of work for some time, he might, as far as his immediate comfort is concerned, rather work for nothing than not work at all; but he will probably prefer not to spoil his market, any more than a manufacturer would, by offering what he has for sale much below its normal price.On this matter much will need to be said in another volume.
