The Division of Labor

On the latest episode of Minor Issues, Mark Thornton explains why the modern discussion of the division of labor is distorted by bad theory and political incentives. Mark contrasts Adam Smith’s view with the Austrian tradition—especially Mises’s—where the division of labor is driven and continuously reorganized by entrepreneurial judgment under uncertainty, disciplined by profit and loss. Mark also shows why technocrats and social engineers love an entrepreneur-less story of specialization, why Marxists found support in Smith’s labor-theory drift, and why the real gains from specialization depend on individual differences that markets harmonize through exchange.

Enter the 2026 Stocks vs. Manure Prediction Contest at https://mises.org/form/stocks-vs-manure-2026

See “The Division of Labor Is at the Very Core of Economic Growth” by Per Bylund in The Next Generation of Austrian Economics: Essays in Honor of Joseph T. Salerno: https://mises.org/MI_160_A

Join us for the Mises Institute’s first event of 2026, featuring Keith Smith, Caitlin Long, Ryan McMaken, Per Bylund, and Timothy Terrell: “Entrepreneurship Beyond Politics: Mises Circle in Oklahoma City.” Register today at https://mises.org/okc

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