Capitalism and crises

Abstract

The paradox of economic distress in the midst of plenty, so prominent in the present depression, appears to be exercising people's minds in a most disturbing manner. The world is apparently glutted with commodities of all sorts; the machinery of production has reached a pitch of efficiency never known before; and yet millions have to go short. Moreover, this very abundance and efficiency stand in the public mind as the cause of depression and unemployment. A curse of plenty that resulted in over-luxuriance of society might be intelligible, but a curse of plenty that shows itself in poverty and hunger does not make sense.