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Labor as a Capital Asset in a Slave Economy
In the economic framework of a slave economy, enslaved individuals are legally classified as property, meaning they are treated as capital assets rather than as hired labor. This classification has significant implications: the initial purchase of an enslaved person is a capital investment, and ongoing expenses for subsistence are maintenance costs. Consequently, any financial loss from a worker's death, injury, or escape is accounted for as the depreciation or loss of a capital good, directly reducing the owner's wealth, much like the breakdown of machinery or the loss of livestock.
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