4 ms·

I don’t see your logic here. Slaves worked for free and were a huge part of the economy. Wages are not the only part of the equation.

• thatcat 9y ago
  The meterics that account for economic activity will place a very low one on labor with a very low hourly rate. AFAIK, Slaves would be categorized as capital expense, which is different than labor and would use a different measure for economic output.
  • cglace 9y ago
    Who cares how you classify the expense. They are talking about what percent of goods/services in our economy come from prisoners. It's negligible. When slavery was a thing It was not negligible. It made up a good portion of the southern economy.
    • thatcat 9y ago
      How do you quantify the goods and services that come from prisoners? It's not like they're stamped with (made in prison), but more likely would be marketed as (made in US).
      • cglace 9y ago
        Are you honestly suggesting that a large percentage of goods/services in the US are provided by prisoners or are you just arguing for arguments sake? I doubt 1 in a million products are made by prisoners.
        • thatcat 9y ago
          I was honestly curious how you might quantify that.