FIGURE 9.1 Leading Branches of Manufacture, 1860
This chart shows clearly that in 1860, three industries — boots and shoes, cotton textiles, and men’s clothing — each employed more than 100,000 workers. However, the workers in three other industries had the highest productivity, with each worker adding more than $1,000 in value to the finished goods. What were these industries? Why were their workers more productive? Adapted from Douglass C. North, Growth and Welfare in the American Past, Second Edition. Copyright © 1974. Reprinted with permission of the author.