How did the economic costs of slavery compare to non-slave labor?

by untaken-username

Putting all morality issues aside, I'm interested in an economic look at slavery in the United States.

What were the costs of slave ownership? There would be the initial capital outlay to buy the slave, plus recurring costs for housing, feeding and so forth. Did the initial cost to purchase the slave dwarf maintenance costs?

How did those costs compare to hiring an unskilled, free worker? Was the calculus ever such that it was economically more feasible to hire non-slave labor rather than use slave labor?

tjcase10

I don't know of any sources for the United States but Seymour Drescher examined this exact question for the British Caribbean in his work Econocide: British Slavery in the Era of Abolition. It's a controversial book and I would suggest reading it along with some academic book reviews and more recent articles on the subject but it might be a good place to start.