Why is productivity so important and where does it come from?

When the squillionaires are stopped from ruling the world we will need to build a new one. (Hope there's plenty of Gin.) The great thing about Capitalism is that one of its by-products is that it forces technological progress. We don't just mean machines. ('Mean machines'; could go in a song!) Companies try to destroy each other to reach a monopoly and, as a result, they try to make things quicker, tastier, slicker, better than their rivals. The rich do not want to do that. They do it because if they crush the opposition they can sell stuff for what they like. They can increase profit. The famous 'bottom line.'

The goal of Capitalism and capitalists is profit - not new technology. We get new technology because it serves profit. Bear this in mind as you swallow the latest report from the British TUC.

They report that 26 billion unpaid hours have been worked by British workers last year.  London was the worst. 27% of London workers did it. The TUCs estimate is that this was worth £24.2 billion to employers.

Here's the thing. In 1992 Japanese workers used £41,216 worth of machinery to carry out their work. In Germany it was £50,116 and in the UK it was £22,509. (Treasury Archive 2002.) UK capitalists don't want to compete. They are not interested in developing new techniques, machines or ideas to wipe out their competitors. They want (and have always wanted) to retreat to those areas where they do not have to invest. They make their money, more than any other rich country, through dodging investment and exploiting more and more labour.

Thats why UK workers work the longest hours of all the rich countries. That's why there has been slower progress in this particular rich country than virtually anywhere else - at least for the last 50 years and at least for the bulk of us. That's why our particular 1% are less use, more vile and parasitic than any of the others.