SOSC 1000 Lecture Notes - Lecture 12: Profit Motive, Workforce Productivity, Capital Accumulation

• School: York University
• Department: Social Science
• Course: SOSC 1000
• Professor: Colline Terry

Document Summary

Adam smith believed that national wealth could be increased by the natural propensities of human nature and that the process of economic growth could lead to the universal opulence which extends to all people. In the wealth of nations, adam smith introduced the idea of division of labour and capital accumulation. He found that people could produce more product together than they could working separately and showed how specialisation boosts human productivity. In this outline, i will explain how division of labour and capital accumulation affect the whole world and labour productivity. Labour productivity can be increased by three main ways: division of labour, investing in capital and increasing the size of output and workers. Division of labour is a natural phenomenon in society. Nations, give me that which i want, and you shall have this which you want", and that is the main purpose of division of labour. Human wants are unlimited but supplies are limited.