Full Employment
The goal of full employment was of most importance to Petty, having recognised that labour was one of the major sources of wealth for individuals and 'the greatest Wealth and Strength of the Kingdom'. In this vein, he extended the cloth-wine argument above, arguing that it is better to employ men and burn their product or to engage in extravagant public works projects, than to have indolent 'supernumeraries' in an economy – hence his famous example of relocating Stonehenge across the plains of Salisbury.
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Famous quotes containing the words full and/or employment:
“Better is a dry morsel with quiet than a house full of feasting with strife.”
—Bible: Hebrew, Proverbs 17:1.
“We may seem great in an employment below our worth, but we very often look little in one that is too big for us.”
—François, Duc De La Rochefoucauld (1613–1680)