The New Era

Perhaps the most important change which has taken place in the developed countries during the last fifty years is the tremendous rise in per capita output and consumption. ¹ The rising output was not only due to the much better organisation and division of labour and the wider use of power-driven mechanical equipment, ² but also to the discovery of new materials, new uses for the familiar ones, and improved ways for their exploitation. ³ Man not only learned to use by-products but also ‘wastages’ which occurred in the processes of production. He learned to shorten his labour time, i.e. to increase the time during which he was free to produce more goods or to avail himself of more leisure and services, ⁴ and to increase the volume of materials upon which he could productively spend the extra time. In other words, man not only increased his per capita output but also the per unit yield and total quantity of the available economically exploitable resources.