Sterling Terrell

recovering economist

Economics 101: What Is Productivity?

Economics 101: What Is Productivity?

[This is part of the series: The Complete Guide To Economics 101.]

Everyone knows what productivity is.

I mean, we all want to be more productive, right?

Productivity is just what someone produces (output) in a given hour, week, month, or year.

  • Can you write one article per day? Or, 12?
  • Can you bale two bales of cotton per hour? Or, 100?
  • And are you only capable of shipping 100 units a day? Or, can you ship 1,000?
 It works the same in economics on a national basis in asking how productive a particular country is.

In fact, there is a strong link between one’s productivity, earnings, and their standard of living.

In short, the more productive people (and nations) are, the higher their wages and standard of living.

Think of it like this in regard to someone in the business of digging ditches:

  • Someone digging ditches with a spoon might be worth paying $0.50 per hour.
  • Someone digging ditches with a shovel might be worth paying $5 per hour.
  • Someone digging ditches with a mechanical ditch-digger might be worth paying $500 per hour.

6 Great Quotes About Talking Too Much

6 Great Quotes About Talking Too Much

I have said before you should stop talking.

Here are 6 great quotes about talking too much.

1. “Big words and promises mean nothing; only actions carry weight.”

-Robert Greene and 50 Cent, The 50th Law (Amazon)

2. “God’s Word has strong medicine for those who carelessly wag their tongues. The tongue also is a fire, a world of evil among the parts of the body. It corrupts the whole person, sets the whole course of his life on fire, and is itself set on fire by hell (James 3;6). He who guards his mouth and his tongue keeps himself from calamity (Proverbs 21:23). He who guards his lips guards his life, but he who speaks rashly will come to ruin (Proverbs 13:3). When words are many, sin is not absent, but he who holds his tongue is wise (Proverbs 10:19).”

-Max Lucado, God Came Near (Amazon)

3. “And that’s what is so insidious about talk . Anyone can talk about himself or herself. Even a child knows how to gossip and chatter. Most people are decent at hype and sales. So what is scarce and rare? Silence. The ability to deliberately keep yourself out of the conversation and subsist without its validation. Silence is the respite of the confident and the strong.”

-Ryan Holiday, Ego is The Enemy (Amazon)

4. “Oysters open completely when the moon is full; and when the crab sees one it throws a piece of stone or seaweed into it and the oyster cannot close again so that it serves the crab for meat. Such is the fate of him who opens his mouth too much and thereby puts himself at the mercy of the listener. -Leonardo da Vinci, 1452-1519”

-Robert Greene, The 48 Laws of Power (Amazon)

5. “Don’t say things. What you are…thunders so that I cannot hear what you say to the contrary. -Ralph Waldo Emerson”

-Eric Greitens, Resilience (Amazon)

6. “When you are trying to impress people with words, the more you say, the more common you appear, and the less in control. Even if you are saying something banal, it will seem original if you make it vague, open-ended, and sphinxlike. Powerful people impress and intimidate by saying less. The more you say, the more likely you are to say something foolish.”

-Robert Greene, The 48 Laws of Power (Amazon)

Sterling Terrell