Historical Example of Labor Supply and Demand Essay Example for Free

Historical Example of Labor Supply and Demand Essay The Luddite Revolt was a part of history that was relatively unknown to me. As such I decided to read it in great length. What I discovered was that at the dawn of the industrial revolution there became massive unemployment. This is because traditional craftsman were obsolete to some of the new manufacturing processes of the day. The industrial revolution made handmade crafts a thing of the past. The luddites were not adapted to handle the situation. These craftsmen felt so threatened by the new technology that they resorted to breaking the means of production associated with it. In 1816 there was a violent revolt of a Luddites which resulted in the breakage of 53 frames at Heathcote and Boden mills in Loughsboro UK. The cost of this revolt was significant. With automated machines now able to produce goods at a faster and cheaper rate than individual merchants these people found themselves without economic viability. They were reduced to being unskilled factory workers instead of the skilled craftsmen they had been before. Consequentially their wages suffered. Work that would have gained someone financial stability or independence was now paid at a substantially less price. In addition these folks didn’t have the ability to sell their own goods any longer. As they were now working in someone else’s factory they had little or no control over what was the asking price of the end product. The frustration these people felt led to the Luddite Revolts.