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The primary problem is that we don't have enough time to consume what we can produce. Ford an avowed capitalist as any identified this problem in the 20s and 3
by fleitz 14y ago
The primary problem is that we don't have enough time to consume what we can produce.
Ford an avowed capitalist as any identified this problem in the 20s and 30s and rectified the situation by slashing work hours and paying more money. Workers now had enough time to enjoy the benefits of a car, and now had the resources to buy one.
Effectively they were able to buy cars because they made cars, and wanted cars because cars let them take their family to the beach, camping, etc.
Now that manufacturing is automated we need people who can tell the robots what to produce and they need enough time off to consume all that the robots produce. Eventually the robots will produce so much that we will be paid just to consume.
- WalterBright 14y agoFord paid workers more because he had to to get them to work on the boring assembly line. He did not pay them more so they could buy his products - that's not a viable business plan.
- seanmcdirmid 14y agoSomewhere in the middle. Ford was a bit more than just a focused capitalist. He had a product that few could afford, and saw a future of new consumers. He also needed work done in his factory, and saw an opportunity to do some social engineering and set an example...and it worked. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fordism http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fordism
- WalterBright 14y agoSee: http://www.forbes.com/sites/timworstall/2012/03/04/the-story-of-henry-fords-5-a-day-wages-its-not-what-you-think/ http://www.forbes.com/sites/timworstall/2012/03/04/the-story... I.e. it wasn't about paying workers to buy his cars.
- pekk 14y agoRobots and materials and a few technical staff to run an automated factory all cost money. That money is only spent when there is an expectation of return. That return comes from selling the output of the factory. Nobody will pay others to consume. The typical person is dependent on a job and if unemployment is bad, they'll scrape. Ford won't rescue them.
- eli_gottlieb 14y agoFord, like many other capitalists of his day, actually recognized that overproduction could happen and could result in a Crisis of Capitalism (ie: as predicted by Marx). He didn't like Marxism, though, so he instead set out to structure his company in such a way as to become part of an economically self-sustaining engine that could actually afford to eat its own output.