Capitalism; Imperialism; Saving and investment; Socialism
v. Kirchmann gives a detailed illustration of this statement. Using the
classical method, he takes us, of course, to an imaginary isolated
society which makes an unresisting, if thankless, object for the
experiments of political economy. v. Kirchmann suggests we should
imagine a place (_Ort_) which comprises 903 inhabitants, no more, no
less, _viz._ three entrepreneurs with 300 workers each. _Ort_ is to be
able to satisfy all needs by its own production--in three
establishments, that is to say, one for clothing, a second for food,
lighting, fuel and raw materials, and a third for housing, furniture and
tools. In each of these three departments, the 'capital together with
the raw materials' is to be provided by the entrepreneur, and the
remuneration of the workers is to be so arranged that the workers obtain
as their wage one half of the annual produce, the entrepreneur retaining
the other half 'as interest on capital and profits of the enterprise'.
Every business is to produce just enough to satisfy all the needs of the
903 inhabitants. _Ort_ accordingly has 'all the conditions necessary for
general well-being', and everybody can therefore tackle his work with
courage and vigour. After a few days, however, joy and delight turn into
a universal misery and gnashing of teeth: something has happened on v.
Kirchmann's Island of the Blessed which was no more to be expected than
for the skies to fall: an industrial and commercial crisis according to
all modern specifications has broken out! Only the most essential
clothing, food and housing for the 900 workers has been produced, yet
the warehouses of the three entrepreneurs are full of clothes and raw
materials, and their houses stand empty: they complain of a lack of
demand, while the workers in turn complain that their wants are not
fully satisfied. What has gone wrong? Could it be that there is too much
of one kind of produce and too little of another, as Say and Ricardo
would have it? Not at all, answers v. Kirchmann. Everything available in
_Ort_ in well-balanced quantities, just enough to satisfy all the wants
of the community. What, then, has thrown a spanner into the works, why
the crisis? The obstruction caused by distribution alone--but this must
be savoured in v. Kirchmann's own words:
'The obstacle, why nevertheless no smooth exchange takes place, lies
solely and exclusively in the distribution of these products. They are
not distributed equitably among all, but the entrepreneurs retain half
of them for themselves as interest and profit, and only give half to the
workers. It is clear that the worker in the clothing department can
exchange, against half of his product, only half of the food, lodging,
etc., that has been produced, and it is clear that the entrepreneur
cannot get rid of the other half since no worker has any more products
to give in exchange. The entrepreneurs do not know what to do with
their stocks, the workers do not know what to do for hunger and
nakedness.'
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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