Overproduction

The term overproduction, or general gluts as it was earlier called, and its allied, if not synonymous term, underconsumption, are rarely, if at all, to be found today in standard, orthodox textbooks of economics. Yet for past generations of writers on economics they were familiar concepts about which must ink was spilt and heated debate ranged. Discussions of overproduction were closely bound up with discussions of underconsumption because the latter has tended to be one of the main explanations of overproduction. Hence our analysis of the concept of overproduction and a brief survey of the development of theories to explain it, has to include some discussion of underconsumption.