On the positive side, the Industrial Revolution greatly cut down on the price of many goods while keeping a reasonable degree of quality in comparison to the traditionally hand-made goods which may have featured a higher standard of quality yet at a high price. Also, the reduction of production costs and goods prices boosted up international trade and increased the interaction among people from different parts of the globe.
On the negative side, the Industrial Revolution created a new and distinct social class, the working class, who unlike the craftsmen of the past were overworked, underpaid and treated harshly in the factories besides of developing new and terrible diseases related to the use of new and toxic materials in the manufacturing processes. Furthermore, the rapid production of goods and wealth made a handful of people in each industrialized country vastly wealthy while the huge majorities of the working class people became poorer and poorer. This and other social inequalities brought about social conflicts between the upper and lower classes as described in detail by Karl Marx in some of his books, especially in <em>The Capital.</em>
