Until the mid-eighteenth century, when spinning became mechanized, cotton was an expensive and relatively unimportant textile (Virginia
Question:
Until the mid-eighteenth century, when spinning became mechanized, cotton was an expensive and relatively unimportant textile (Virginia Postrel, “What Separates Rich Nations from Poor Nations?” New York Times, January 1, 2004).
Where it used to take an Indian hand-spinner 50,000 hours to hand-spin 100 pounds of cotton, an operator of a 1760s-era hand-operated cotton mule spinning machine could produce 100 pounds of stronger thread in 300 hours. After 1825, when the self-acting mule spinner automated the process, the time dropped to 135 hours, and cotton became an inexpensive, common cloth. Was this technological progress neutral? In a figure, show how these technological changes affected isoquants.
Step by Step Answer:
Microeconomics Theory And Applications With Calculus
ISBN: 9780133019933
3rd Edition
Authors: Jeffrey M. Perloff