Our consideration of the natural laws which govern the
production and distribution of the materials of life has now led
us to the following conclusions:— Competition first acts in co-
operation with the Law of the Economy of Power to promote
progress. Every producer is incessantly compelled to increase
his powers of production, whether by reducing his expenditure of
Power, or—which is the same thing—by creating a greater quantity
of products by the same expenditure; failing to respond, he is
distanced in the race for existence, starved, and perishes.
Competition next co-operates with the Law of Value to regulate
the production and distribution of the materials of life. By
means identical with those of the physical Law of Gravitation,
it now establishes an equilibrium between supply and demand at
the level of price necessary to induce production, and regulates
the distribution of products between the agents of production,
capital and labour, on terms which ensure their reconstitution
and permanent co-operation