EconAir

Adam Smith - Our Founding Father INTRODUCTION   This essay on Adam Smith and his famous example of a pin factory also serves as an introduction to some of the themes in the over 100 essays in this blog.   Adam Smith wrote the  Wealth of Nations  during the beginning of the Industrial Revolution. It was published in 1776. The dynamics of the Industrial Revolution continue to be a disruptive force; because of AI, it might be even more disruptive in the future.   ADAM SMITH’S PIN FACTORY   Adam Smith’s description of a pin factory is on the first page of  The Wealth of Nations .  (Chapter 1 – “Of the Division of Labour”)  Drawings of pin factories of this period show workers using hand tools. Smith says the process can be broken down into 18 distinct steps, including packaging the pins. Smith mentions that pin factory workers were poorly paid, despite their high productivity.    Adam Smith says he visited a pin factory empl...

  A play about John Maynard Keynes recently opened in London. People are paying to see a play about an economist? I hope it’s a comedy. Or at least a musical like  Hamilton .   Keynes was born in England in 1883. He was educated at Eton and Cambridge. His father was a professor at Cambridge. His mother was mayor of Cambridge in 1932-33. He died Lord Keynes in 1946. A member of the establishment.   He spent the first years of his professional life analyzing and writing about monetary theory and probability theory. This was in an environment in which the English economy was at the end of 100 years of political and economic dominance of the global economy (including English colonies) through advanced manufacturing technology, exports, and overseas capital investment. But already, by 1910, Germany and the United States had larger industrial output with better and more innovative technology (new industries and better manufacturing systems). England was falling behind. The...

POSTS CATEGORIES (POSTS WITH LINKS ARE IN BLUE AND LISTED BELOW) Overview of the Blog   The Beginning of the Modern Global Economy:  The Economic Rise of England Before the Industrial Revolution   The Beginning of the Industrial Revolution in England and America   The theme of the following five sections of the blog is that innovation and information, not price competition, are the main factors for understanding economic growth, competition, market structure and analysis.   Basic Concepts and Theory Corporate Strategies And Management Market Behavior and Structure Market Dynamics and Information:  How Markets Work Economic Theory and Markets   There is beginning a historic change in future populations and their demographics. This will interact with other variables and have a serious, maybe profound, effect on future economic growth. Demographics, Population Projections and Economics American History American Economic History Politics of the United...