How much would a slave cost in modern day dollars?
You might want to read a famous and controversial study of the economics of slavery in US cotton plantations by the Nobel Prize winning economist Robert Fogel titled Time on the Cross (see below). He concluded that using slave labor was efficient and very profitable. The supply of slaves was limited, however, because they could not be imported from Africa according to US law. As a result the price of slaves was high. In fact, one of the most profitable agricultural businesses was raising slaves for sale to owners of cotton plantations. This was often done by the owners of older plantations, for example, in Virginia where the climate was not suitable for growing cotton. One of Fogel’s controversial conclusions was that slave owners had a strong economic incentive to treat their slaves well by providing good food, shelter, and medical care. A healthy slave was more productive. Just like a farmer would take good care of valuable farm equipment, for example, a tractor, he would take good c
