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I suppose it depends what the cost of said productivity is. Slave societies were pretty productive.
by atomicdog 15y ago
I suppose it depends what the cost of said productivity is. Slave societies were pretty productive.
- Thrymr 15y agoThat is very wrong. Slave labor is extremely unproductive, that has been known by economists since Adam Smith. It turns out that forcing people to work against their will, with no hope of advancement or independence, is not a strong motivator to productivity. Fear of punishment is a stronger inducement to escape and rebellion than actual productivity, and slave societies need to spend significant resources to enforce the system in favor of the slaveowners. See, for example, Charles Mann, 1493, on sugar plantations in Africa and the Americas.