Cottage Industry Making A Comback?
WHILE driving through rural South Carolina recently, I was surprised to find that nearly every home I passed had a sign advertising some cottage industry. Each offered a range of services from “small welding projects” to “bikini waxes” (though no one I surveyed had ever patronised that particular business). These businesses were not necessarily limited to modest homes; it spanned a spectrum of income levels.
Cottage industry has traditionally been a building block of economic development. In industrialised countries it was the first form of manufacturing and paved the way for the industrial revolution. Home production has traditionally been common to low income, less skilled workers and its popularity counter cyclical. When the economy provides less jobs workers become more likely to engage in home production.
I think cottage industry is great. It allows people to stay in their homes with their families, the building block of society. I wonder when nanotechnology and other things will allow more people to do high-tech work from home...
Labels: Economics, technology
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