Page:Tales in Political Economy by Millicent Garrett Fawcett.djvu/35

 carpenter to make her a bedstead, she must supply him with a whole suit of clothes; if her demand increases, and she wants, besides the bedstead, two chairs, she must supply him not only with a suit of clothes, but with a dozen pairs of knitted socks into the bargain. It will be noticed, that if production increases, demand also increases; if, for example, Mrs. Collins finds out a new way of knitting by means of which she can make three pairs of socks in the same time that she previously employed to make two pairs, her power of buying the products of other people's labour is increased 50 per cent. Her demand for these products therefore increases in consequence of the increased productiveness of her own labour. It accordingly happens that general prosperity and an increased demand for commodities nearly always go together; but the increased demand is not the cause of the increased prosperity. On the contrary, the increase of production gives those who benefit by it greater power to purchase the products of other kinds of labour; in other words, increased prosperity