Page:The Case for Capitalism (1920).djvu/55

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of some accumulated store; because the work that they are actually doing is not yet turning out an article ready for consumption, and may only be producing articles, such as machinery or ships, that will not be consumed, in the ordinary sense of the word, but used in the processes of further production, or of distribution.

The third heading, Management, implies the precious quality of judgment concerning the purpose for which the machinery of production is set going, the organization by which it is made most efficient, and the means to be taken for disposing of the product in the market where it is most wanted and will fetch the best price. In the complications of modern industry, this is an affair requiring the highest possible skill and foresight. It is not enough to set a large number of people to work to produce an article; the manager or designer has to do his utmost to be sure that the article as produced will be such that somebody else will want, and also to see that it is brought within the reach of the possible buyer. If it is not wanted, it will have no economic value, because nobody will give goods and services in exchange for it, and the whole process by which it has been produced will have been a waste of labour, materials and time. If the article is wanted, Lut those who want it do