Value And The Distribution Of Commodities PDF Download

This historic book may have numerous typos and missing text. Purchasers can usually download a free scanned copy of the original book (without typos) from the publisher. Not indexed. Not illustrated. 1908 edition. Excerpt: ... CHAPTER XV INTEREST (concluded) To discuss economic problems in terms of price rather than of value, to place the emphasis upon money rather than upon the things that money will buy, to talk of nominal rather than of real wages, is commonly accepted as the mark of superficial thinking; that price is a mere half-way house between value and value or between utility and utility has come to mean that it is for most theoretical purposes no house at all. It is nevertheless important to appreciate how much of modern economic life woud be different, and how much of economic theory would require reformulation, were there no money and no money price. The problem reaches even so far, indeed, as to have raised the question whether, without a money denominator, the value problem would be possible of solution. What would be the theoretical situation were there no conventional standard and medium? It is at any rate evident that, at no matter what inconvenience, there would be barter enough in this moneyless society; division and specialization of employment would obtain very much as under present conditions; recognized value relations would establish themselves between such classes of goods as in considerable measure were exchanged against each other, and under some sort of arbitrage these relations would acquire a considerable degree of definiteness. That is to say, value relations would exist essentially as at present, but all this without any price system. But would there exist no medium of exchange? No. Or, rather, there would be not one medium but an indefinite number of media; for by trading and retrading, possessors of commodities for exchange would finally place themselves in command of commodities exchangeable against the particular...