WAGES,  PROFITS  AND  INTEREST  187

If  the  price  of  the  output  is  £12  5s.  Od.
a  ton  the  employer  will  aim  at  an  output
of  1,004  tons,  and  his  remuneration  will  be
1,004  times  £12  5s.  Od.  (which  amounts  to
£12,299)  less  £11,508  9s.  0d.,  that  is  exactly
£760  11s.  Such  close  accuracy  of  balance  is,
of  course,  impossible,  but  the  example  serves
to  illustrate  the  principle  which  is  roughly
borne  out  in  practice.  We  are  overlooking
the  ups  and  downs  of  trade,  which  make
employers’  earnings  fluctuate  enormously,
and  considering  merely  what  happens  on  an
average.
We  may  now  return  to  the  main  thread
of  our  argument.  Suppose  there  are  100
employers  in  the  industry  which  is  the  sole
industry  in  the  country,  and  that  the  surplus
left  over  for  each  employer  is  £1000  a  year.
Now,  when  the  number  of  employers  is  not
fixed,  as  it  is  not  in  reality,  it  may  be  that
£1000  a  year  is  too  much  or  too  little  to  cause
100  suitable  people  to  devote  themselves  to  the
task  of  undertaking  businesses  in  that  industry.
Suppose,  first,  that  it  is  too  much.  If  it  is
too  much  other  people  will  be  induced  to
enter  the  industry  and  compete  for  labour
and  capital.  Consequently,  in  the  very  long
run,  the  magnitude  of  the  typical  business
will  contract,  though  at  the  same  time  the