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Because what matters was never productivity but competition. That's inbuilt into the capitalist philosophy. With that, it doesn't really matter that X company's productivity skyrocketed if Y's company, X's competitor, also does. They both will try to grow has much as possible, invest as much as possible in R&D, (...) or they are out-competed by the other. We should always remember: If a company could, they would have free labour. Expert professional volunteers. That's how a company can maximize their profits. So every single year, every company is, unless forced by laws, wage competition (from other companies) or by force (unions), behind rationalizations, pushing for, unconsciously, getting close to that ideal of free labor. Also remember that today, free labour has a limit. They can't really pay zero, because people have mortgages, etc. So actually, the modern "zero" is when the workers have zero profit, ie, savings, or even go into constant debt, and have the government pay for it with subsidies. And this is exactly what we've been seeing the last decades. |