ENGL 200 D: Reading Literature: Literature in the Marketplace

The Downside of Division

In “Wealth of Nations”, Smith talks at great length about how dividing labor greatly increases production and profits, saying that “the division of labour, however, so far as it can be introduced, occasions, in every art, a proportionable increase of the productive powers of labour.” (Ch. 1) He uses the example of a group of people making pins. Each is specialized in one small part of the production process, allowing the group to produce a much greater amount of the final product.

Smith identifies that this division of labor is not our natural instinct. Rather, we naturally want to trade goods with other individuals to obtain what we want. If I am make pins alone, completing the entire process myself, then I am able to trade with anybody that needs pins. However, if I am only a part of the pin making process, I can really can only trade to the person who is next in the production line. Because that good is so specialized, the audience for it is just as narrow.

It seems that while it can help us get more “shiny things”, the division of labor can often prevent us from acting on one of our natural instincts. I think this question of generalization vs. specialization is a continuing issue that all types of people are forced to deal with in the economy. We generally think of a specialized good or service to be of higher quality and value. For the person providing that good, they have chosen to sacrifice a larger market for specialization. This trade off that Smith wrote about 200 years ago still affects society today.