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THE PROBLEM OF THE UNEMPLOYED
no unemployment in the whole community, but might be
attributable to the superior ability of English capital and
labour to find employment. But if in any considerable
part of the industrial community of nations such general
“ unemployment ” or excess of producing-power does exist,
it is proof of the over-saving of the community, whether
it is also found in other nations of the community or not.
§24. The Motives of Under-Consumption.
A Natural Law of Consumption.
But thus far I have only explained the mechanism of
over-capitalisation, the central fact of the unemployed
question. What are the motive forces which act upon
individuals impelling them to a line of action which, from
the wider standpoint of the community, is uneconomical?
Why does the free play of individual interests fail to
secure the interest of the whole community?
The answer to this vital question is found in the region
of Distribution. The reason why attempts are made by
individuals to establish more forms of capital than are
socially required, is that they possess certain elements of
income which are not earned by effort, and which are therefore
not required to satisfy any present legitimate wants. In spite
of all attempts to make an artificial severance between a
“ producing ” and a “ consuming ” class, the natural relation
between production and consumption, between effort and
satisfaction, exercises a strong influence in the social economy.
It is possible for individuals and for classes who draw large
incomes alieni vultus sudore, or without any considerable contribution
of effort, to be large and profuse consumers. But, after
all, the law which relates effort to satisfaction is a “ natural ”
law, which, finding its simplest expression in the physical
