Principles of Political Economy, Vol. 1Roscher, Wilhelm
History
Principles of Political Economy, Vol. 1
Roscher, Wilhelm
Economics
80 An intermediate dealer can, so far as he is himself concerned,
attribute value in exchange to goods only to the extent that they
have use for the last person who has acquired them. Hence, _Storch_
calls _value in use_ immediate, and _value in exchange_, mediate
value. As the English are always wont to express the immediate in
words of Germanic origin, and the mediate in words borrowed from the
Latin, _Locke_ calls value in use “worth,” and value in exchange,
simply “value.” (_K. Marx_, Das Kapital. Kritik der politischen
Œkonomie, 1867, I, 2.)
81 It is, of course, otherwise when, for instance, a beautiful sea
view, or a desirable position as regards air and sunshine, is
connected with a piece of land.
82 In Ravenna a cistern had greater value in exchange than a vineyard:
_Martial_, III, 56. In Paris, too, drinking water, which is
transported only with considerable trouble, costs 1-1/3 thalers per
cubic meter. We may also mention snow and ice in summer, which last
sells in the capitals of southern Europe at 0.34, silber groschens
per pound. According to _Carey_, “utility” is the measure of man’s
power over nature, “value,” the measure of nature’s power over man.
He very inaccurately adds, that both are always in an opposite
direction. (Principles of Social Science, 1861, VI, ch. 9.)
83 Hence _Ad. Müller_ calls value in use, individual value, and value
in exchange, social value. The Germans call the value of goods whose
value in use is recognized by only one person, _Affectionswerth_,
(affection-value) a value which influences its value in exchange
only when the individual who holds it in high esteem is not himself
the possessor of the goods. An instance of this latter is a piece of
paper covered with notes, intelligible only to the maker of them.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account