From: morgan@keilin.helsinki.fi (Joel Morgan)
Date: Wed, 14 Aug 1996 02:23:59 +0800
To: cypherpunks@toad.com
Subject: re: National Socio-Economic Security Need for Encryption Technology
Message-ID: <199608131316.QAA05679@keilin.helsinki.fi>
MIME-Version: 1.0
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It seems clear that capital investment in tools will contribute to the
-productivity- of workers.  (Tools here meaning whatever machinery/
infrastructure is used to get work done.)

Bart Croughs quotes a number of economists who seem to be saying that
when capital investment leads to increased productivity (per worker)
this also leads to higher wages.

I'm not sure I understand -why- this should necessarily be so.  It's my
impression that in manufacturing industries, the more mechanized
production is, the more workers will get paid.  Then again, perhaps a
more mechanized industry will pay more because more mechanized
industries hire workers with higher skills (albeit fewer workers).

It's my impression that when a company makes capital investments which
increase productivity, the fruits of this increased worker productivity
are shared (to some extent) with the workers.  I can imagine a number of
reasons why this might be done, but it's not absolutely clear to me
that this would be a direct result of market forces.

-- 
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Joel.Morgan@Helsinki.FI              http://blues.helsinki.fi/~morgan
    "Over the mountains there are mountains."   -- Chang-rae Lee 
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