Equation 2 · Part 1 · What the Machine Breakers Actually Wanted
Symbol w
What this part means
the real wage, Y/L output per worker, and labour’s share of value added.
Its job in the formula
w is a part of this expression. Its role is fixed by the surrounding article and by the operations shown in the formula.
Full expression→Symbol w→Article meaning
Where the article explains it
where w is the real wage, Y/L output per worker, and labour’s share of value added.
The passage around this formula
where w is the real wage, Y/L output per worker, and labour’s share of value added. Productivity growth is necessary for durable wage growth but not sufficient for it: the second term can absorb the first for decades. Allen’s contribution is to show that in Britain it did.
Learn the underlying idea
A variable is a named place for a value. Its letter is a local label: x can mean position in one formula and a data point in another.
Open the illustrated variables: a letter stands for a value guide →
See this notation across published equations →
Sources cited in the article section
- [7] Pessimism Perpetuated: Real Wages and the Standard of Living in Britain during and after the Industrial Revolution ↗
- [8] Engels' pause: Technical change, capital accumulation, and inequality in the British industrial revolution ↗
- [9] The History of Technological Anxiety and the Future of Economic Growth: Is This Time Different? ↗
These citations provide research context; check each source for the exact claim it supports.