But, goods, to obtain value in exchange, must, in addition to their value in use, a value which must be recognized(83) by a certain number of persons, at least, have the capacity of becoming the exclusive property of some one individual, and therefore of being alienated or transferred; and this alienation or transfer must be desired because of the difficulty to become possessed of them in any other way.(84) Section VI. Value.—Alleged Contradiction Between Value In Use And Value In Exchange. Recent, and especially socialistic,(85) writers have alluded to the great “contradiction” between value in use and value in exchange. This contradiction, however, vanishes when the above idea of economy, and the two sides or aspects, which economic value presents, are kept steadily in view. It is said, for instance, that a pound of gold has a much greater value in exchange than a pound of iron; while the value in use of iron, is incomparably greater than that of gold. I question this latter statement. True it is, that the need of iron is much more universal and urgent than the need of gold. On the other hand, a pound of gold yields satisfaction to the want of that metal, much greater than is yielded by a pound of iron, to the want of iron. We may speak of a contradiction between value in use and value in exchange, at the farthest, only in case the existing quantity of an article in trade, which can be done without, is not estimated correspondingly lower than the whole existing supply of a thing which is indispensable. But this is a case which cannot often occur. When, for instance, wheat is very dear, as in years of scarcity, people prefer to pay a very high price for it rather than to dispense, even in part, with its use; and so of all the necessaries of life. As people progress in economic culture, they become more expert in adapting the value in exchange of related goods, not only to their cost-value, but also to their value in use.(86)(87) The lower the state of a nation’s economy, the more isolated men live from one another, the greater is the prominence given by them to value in use, as compared with value in exchange, a fact which makes a valuation of resources, which shall be universally applicable, a more difficult matter.(88)(89)(90) Section VII. Resources Or Means (Vermögen). _Resources_, or _means_, in the sense in which we here use the term, are the aggregate of economic goods owned by a physical or legal person, after deduction is made of the person’s debts, and all valuable and rightful claims have been added.(91) Hence, there are private resources, corporative resources, municipal resources, etc., state resources, national resources and the world’s resources. In estimating the resources of a whole people, it is, of course, necessary to make deduction of the debts due by the individual members of the nation to their fellow countrymen.