<P> In Plato's Republic, the origin of the state lies in the natural inequality of humanity, which is embodied in the division of labour . </P> <P> Well then, how will our state supply these needs? It will need a farmer, a builder, and a weaver, and also, I think, a shoemaker and one or two others to provide for our bodily needs . So that the minimum state would consist of four or five men...(The Republic, p. 103, Penguin Classics edition .) </P> <P> Silvermintz notes that, "Historians of economic thought credit Plato, primarily on account of arguments advanced in his Republic, as an early proponent of the division of labour ." Notwithstanding this, Silvermintz argues that, "While Plato recognizes both the economic and political benefits of the division of labour, he ultimately critiques this form of economic arrangement insofar as it hinders the individual from ordering his own soul by cultivating acquisitive motives over prudence and reason ." </P> <P> Xenophon, in the fourth century BC, makes a passing reference to division of labour in his' Cyropaedia' (a.k.a. Education of Cyrus). </P>

What is most important for the effective operation of the division of labour in a modern economy