There are 3,000 million people in the world today, and we can say with certainly that they want things, from the cradle to the grave. It doesn’t make any difference whether you were born an Englishman or an Eskimo, a Mexican or a Russian, your were crying for milk before many hours had gone by. All your life you will be wanting things: drink when you are thirsty, food when you are hungry, clothes when are cold and shelter in bad weather.

Different races all over the world have learned how to satisfy their wants in different ways. Some men are hunters, some raise crops, some fish, some breed cattle; the most developed races have discovered complex methods of doing all these things so that output rises and they become more wealthy. Today we plough fields with giant tractors and sow seeds with supplies of artificial fertilizer alongside to increase the yield of the crops.

We harvest with combine harvesters and use the crops to feed cattle, poultry, and pigs. We then use the wide variety of foods we have produced to make an even greater variety of prepared foods. Similarly we produce a huge range of natural and synthetic fibres for clothing, while a vast array of sophisticated technical products satisfies our wants in other ways.

The Advantages of Specialization

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The five main advantages of specialization which lead to the production of increased wealth are:

(i) He invents special tools.

(ii) People choose the work they like.

(iii) These tools can be mechanized, and speeded up.

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(iv) They save time by using the same equipment all day.

(v) The specialist becomes more skilled because of repetition.

(i) The specialist invents special tools-Every specialist sooner or later comes up with a bright idea many save time or materials. Possibly it is a new tool, or different layout, or a change in material. These improvements in efficiency mean more output and greater wealth.

(ii) People choose the work they like-Everyone has some sort of natural inclination; one man likes to lead, to assume responsibility, another likes routine work. If people are allowed to choose freely they will generally find work that appeals to them; they will take steps to master the necessary skills and work hard. This hard work makes the country wealthy.

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(iii) Tools can be mechanized-and machines can be speeded up-A Machine can nearly always be made to work faster than a human being. For instance, an electric drill can be rotated more quickly than a hand drill. With the latest electronic computers an addition can be performed in 13 micro-seconds, i.e. well over a thousand million additions can be make in one second. Such fantastic speeds reduce the time spent on complex calculations. The output of scientists, design engineers, and accountant’s increases, and the world gets richer.

(iv) If a man specializes he saves a great deal of time with tools and equipment-The man who does not specialized has to do more than one job in his working day. This will involve him in putting away one set of tools and materials and getting out the next set.

The man who does the same job day used the same tools and thus saves time. Extra time means extra output, so more worker for some considerable difficult task will occupy even a skilled worker for some considerable time. If he then does it again he will to it more quickly. When he has done it 20 times he will have overcome most of the difficulties and will almost be able to do it blindfolded. This means greater output and greater wealth.