> productivity increases increase the value of labor We might be using terms in a different way here. This statement is true in one sense, and untrue in anothe

> productivity increases increase the value of labor We might be using terms in a different way here. This statement is true in one sense, and untrue in another sense. When there is higher productivity, an hour of labor accomplishes more work. Employers are getting more bang for their buck - an hour of laborer pay accomplishes more work for the employer. (i.e. the employer is getting more value) On the other hand, because it's possible to accomplish more work with less labor, the demand for that type of labor drops. This leads to depressed wages (i.e. the employee is getting less value). A good historical example of this was at the beginning of the industrial revolution, when power-looms caused weaver-labor to become nearly worthless https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Power_loom#Social_and_economic_implications https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Power_loom#Social_and_economic... Many of the displaced workers became Luddites who wanted to smash the machines which put them out of work. You would think that being relieved from working would be a blessing, but not in their circumstance. Because the weavers' labor was so sharply devalued, they found it extremely difficult to sell their labor for enough money to eat. The short-term effect isn't the whole story, of course. Textiles were incredibly cheap which did increase demand, and eventually led to the creation of (low-paying) jobs in textile factories. But even where things turn out fine in the long-term, the short-term disruption is not to be underestimated. Widespread unemployment due to power-looms caused riots. > When everybody was a pitiful subsistence farmer, barely producing more than they needed to eat themselves, the price of labor was very low. To the contrary, the price of labor then was incredibly high. As you say, serfs spent the majority of their time simply generating their own subsistence. Feudal lords were entitled to a portion of the serfs' labor, but it only amounted to a day or two out of the week. Consider the legions of subsistence farmers it would take to support specialized full-time jobs. Once industrial agriculture started taking off, food was suddenly cheap and plentiful. This made sustenance much less expensive and freed up labor for other non-farming purposes. > high labor prices tend to cause productivity increases as a way to avoid paying them This I agree with! In fact I believe it expresses the same point that I'm trying to convey: increasing productivity means employers pay less for labor. Witness the rise of self-checkout stations at grocery stores, as well as kiosks and automatic-burger flippers at fast food restaurants. The whole point of these innovations is to decrease the demand for such labor.