I was the Founding Father of the United States

Chapter 46 The Value of Economic Theory

"...John! Do you have an answer?"

Seeing John Adams sitting on his right looking enlightened, Chen Wenbin smiled and asked.

"Sir, I think it's because of time!"

John Adams stated definitively, "In the same amount of working time, workers before the efficient division of labor mostly worked inefficiently, wasting a great deal of time!"

"That's right!"

Chen Wenbin nodded. "Workers' labor time is wasted on inefficient division of labor, as well as time wasted on switching between different processes, using inefficient production tools, and poor factory management... Time is the real value!"

Now that the cause has been identified, the methods to improve production efficiency and obtain more goods and profits are also clear.

He then wrote "efficient division of labor," "technological innovation," and "meticulous management" on the blackboard, explaining: "Efficient division of labor can free up time that would otherwise be wasted. Examples include the manufacturing plant of Jenna spinning machines and the prefabricated wood component plant."

Technological innovation can directly improve production efficiency; for example, the Jenna spinning machine directly increased efficiency by twenty times.

Refined management involves the management of workers, so let me use my factory as an example!

As you all know, I've implemented a ten-hour workday, provided housing, and implemented workers' compensation insurance in all my factories and companies, and I've also created stock options for management... Can anyone tell me why?

"This is, of course, because of your kindness!"

Chris, the butler sitting in the corner, answered immediately.

Chen Wenbin laughed, then shook his head, looked at everyone, and said seriously, "I certainly don't want the people who work for me to fall into a miserable situation, but that's not the main reason."

The reason I set up these systems is that I want workers to be able to work with more peace of mind and without worries, and for those who manage the factory to see themselves as one of the owners of the factory, so that production efficiency can be improved and more value can be created.

After all, workers are living human beings, not machines. A worker who is constantly worried about being laid off or is exhausted cannot guarantee the quality of goods.

The same applies to management. If management doesn't even own shares in the company and factory, why should they treat them as their own business and dedicate themselves to them instead of trying to make a profit for themselves?

Loyalty cannot be relied upon, because humans have eaten the fruit of the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil and are naturally susceptible to temptation.

What if the board of directors sends someone to supervise?

That would probably be difficult to achieve, because the people actually responsible for supervision are also human and are equally susceptible to temptation. So the best solution is to turn the management into shareholders and set up a reward and punishment system to make them accountable for their work results.

This can also create more wealth!

Hearing Chen Wenbin analyze himself in such a way, the crowd reacted in different ways: some were admiring, some were confused, some were excited, and others fell into deep thought.

John Adams thought for a moment, then shook his head and said, "...Sir! I think there are very, very few people who are able to realize these things and actually do them!"

Most people are unwilling to share their wealth because mercantilists believe that the total amount of wealth in the world is finite...sharing wealth would only harm their interests!

"That's why I told you before, mercantilism is wrong! At the very least, they didn't properly understand what wealth is!"

Chen Wenbin smiled and said, "In my opinion, true wealth is not just gold and silver stored in vaults, but also tangible things like land, goods, factories, roads, docks, and new inventions and services that can make people's lives better, more convenient, and happier."

As production scales up and trade prospers, wealth is actually constantly growing; gold and silver are merely the equivalents that we humans use to exchange for goods.

Moreover, the more refined the division of labor in society, the larger the scale of production, the more prosperous domestic and international trade, and the more the total amount of human wealth will continue to grow.

For the happiness of all mankind, I intend to use my time at sea to summarize these thoughts, explain the nature of wealth and the methods to increase wealth, and tell all nations how to properly develop their economies!

"...Are you planning to write a book criticizing mercantilism?"

Henry Coates couldn't help but remind him, "Robin, you'd better wait until you become a Fellow of the Royal Society before revealing this theory. If you directly criticize mercantilism, some of the East India Company's board members will have objections... After all, it's mercantilism that allowed the company to maintain its monopoly on trade with the East!"

"Mr. Courtes is right!"

Samuel Adams immediately fulfilled his duty as a political advisor, reminding him: "Publicizing these theories could potentially impact your trip to the UK, given that many business MPs in Britain are proponents of mercantilism!"

Chen Wenbin thought to himself, these two guys are not bad, I haven't wasted my time teaching them these past few days, but he has other purposes for producing "The Wealth of Nations", how could he give up so easily? So he waved his hand at the two of them and said, "Henry, Samuel, don't worry, of course I won't do anything that is beyond my capabilities!"

Although Britain has now defeated France and gained maritime hegemony, if it continues to pursue conservative and rigid mercantilism, it may very well be surpassed by France in commerce!

Moreover, my theory has no logical flaws, and I believe that truly insightful politicians will not fail to see its value!

Why did Chen Wenbin release "The Wealth of Nations" more than a decade in advance?

Of course, he wasn't just idly spouting theories to show off; rather, through conversations with Henry Coates and Adams, he learned that modern Britain was not actually a free trade country at all!

On the contrary, Britain now adheres to mercantilist economic theories inherited from Thomas Mun.

Thomas Meng's masterpiece, "The Wealth of Britain from Foreign Trade," emphasizes the pursuit of trade surpluses abroad, the implementation of trade protectionist tariff policies at home, and the concept of accumulating wealth in gold and silver... This posed an obstacle to Chen Wenbin's plan to accumulate wealth through transoceanic trade and acquire population from the East.

To put it simply, the East India Company, which monopolized trade in the East by relying on Britain's mercantilist trade protection policies, was simply too much of a hindrance!

With the East India Company involved, he could only obtain immigration through the East India Company, and it's easy to imagine that the cost would be extremely high!

Since "The Wealth of Nations" could undermine the East India Company, it was naturally necessary to try... Of course, the effect at present should not be significant.

In international political practice, free trade theory is actually an economic theory used by industrialized countries with strong production capacity to persuade other agricultural and late-developing industrialized countries to open their doors. Since Britain's current production efficiency has not yet surpassed that of other European countries, it is highly unlikely that Britain will adopt it.

The value of developing the theory ahead of time lies in its ability to be accepted by the British more quickly. At that time, Chen Wenbin's own industrial capabilities will certainly be developed. Whether in North America or South America, with the advent of free trade, Boss Chen's wealth will come in abundance.