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Social Economics PDF

492 Pages·1927·40.067 MB·English
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SOCIAL ECO:NOl\IICS ADELPHI ECONOMIC SERIES GENERALECONOMICHISTORY MaJr W,~,,. CYCLICAL FLUCTUATIO~S Sim....K..u"II:C SOCIAL ECONOMICS V." F. Wi,s,r MONEY Karl H'/JIiricl SOCIAL ECONOMICS By FRIEDRICH v'on WIESER TranJ'lafed hy A. FORD HINRICHS AJ'J',".rlani ProjeJ'J'orojEconomicJ',Brown Uni"erJ'ify With a Prciface hy WESLEY CLArEt MITCHELL ADELPHI CO'MPANY NEW "fO:RK COPYRIGHT, 1927 BY GREENBERG, PUBLISHER, INC. MANUFACTURED IN THB UNITED STATES OF AMERICA BY THE VAIL-BALLOU PRESS, INC., BINGHAMTON. N. Y. CONTENTS FOREWORD-,WESLEY C. MITCHELL ix TRANSLATOR'S PREFACE xiii AUTHOR'S PREFACE xvii INTRODUCTION 1 1. THEMETHOD OF THE FOLLOWING STUDY 3 2. THE DIVISION OF THE SUBJECT :MJ~TTER 9 BOOK I THEORY OF THE SIMPLE ECONOMY 3. PURPOSE AND POWER IN THE ECONOMY 18 4. HUMAN NEEDS 21 5. GOSSEN'S LAW OF THE SATIE,TYOFNEEDS 25 6. THE DEGREES OF HUMAN NEEDS 29 7. THE ApPRAISAL OF FUTURE NEEDS 35 8. COMMODITIES 39 9. BUILDING UP THE SIMPLE EOONOJ~Y 43 10. THE UNITY OF THE ECONOMY 49 11. THE THEORY OF PRODUCTS 53 12. THE THEORY OF LABOR 56 13. THE THEORY OF CAPITAL 62 14. THE THEORY OF LAND 74 15. COSTPRODUCTIVE MEANS AND SPEOIFIO PRODUCTIVE MEANS, COST PRODUCTS AND SPECnnC PRODUCTS 81 16. 'MARGINAL UTILITY IN THE lSOLA'.I~EDHOUSEHOLD ANDTHE FUN- DAMENTAL LAW OF THE ECONOMIC COMPUTATION OF UTILITY 85 17. MARGINAL UTILITY IN IDEALIZED PRODUCTION 96 18. THE LAW OF THE COST OF PRODUCTION IN THE SIMPLE EOONOMY 98 19. CHANGES OF COSTS AND THE COMPUTATION OF UTILITY 106 20. THE PROBLEM OF ATTRIBUTION Ol~ YIELDS 111 21. COMMON AND SPECIFIO ATTRIBU'rION OF YIEWS 119 22. THE ECONOMIO COMPUTATION OF UTILITY 124 23. NET-YIELD AND THE PRODUCTIVITY OF CAPITAL 129 24. CAPITAL COMPUTATION 135 25. ECONOMIC VALUE 142 BOOK II THEORY OF THE SOCIA:L ECONOMY PART I THEORY OF ECONOMIC SOCIETY 149 26. THE ECONOMIC PROCESS ANDTHE THEORY OF SOCIETY 149 27. THE BASIC FORMS OF SOCIAL ,AOrION 154 28. THE INDIVIDUAL IN ECONOMIC SOCIETY 158 29. SOCIAL INSTITUTIONS 162 vi CONTENTS PARTII THE INSTITUTIONS OF EXCHANGE 167 30. EXCHANGE 167 31. THE MARKET 171 32. THE PROBLEM OF THE GENERAL DOCTRINE OF PRIOES 177 33. THE FUNDAMENTAL LAW OF PRIOE-FORMATION 178 34. THE STRATIFIOATION OF PRICES 186 35. THE DEMAND-INDEX OF CONSUMPTION AND THE UNITY OF THE HOUSEHOLD 189 36. THE FUNDAMENTAL LAW OF THE CHANGEOF PRICE 191 37. THE FORMATION OF PRICES IN THEDISORGANIZED MARKET 195 . 38. THE PEICE OF PRODUCTS. I. THE SUPPLy-INDEX OF COSTS 198 39. THE PRICE OF PRODUCTS. II. THE COMPETITIVE PRICE 204 40. THE PRICE OF PRODUCTS. III. THE MONOPOLY OF SUPPLY 211 41. THE PRICE OF PRODUCTS. IV. THE DEMAND-MONOPOLY 218 42. THE PRICE OF PRODUCTS. V. THE MONOPOLOID INSTITUTIONS 220 43. PERSONAL (SUBJECTIVE) VALUE-IN-EXCHANGE 2.28 44. E,CONOMIC (OBJECTIVE) VALUE;"IN-ExCHANGE 233 45. THE CONCLUSIONS OF THE GENERAL THEORY OF PRICE 235 46. CREDIT 237 47. THE MEANS OF PAYMENT BY CREDIT 242 48. THE NATIONAL ECONOMIC COMMUNITY OF PAYMENT 250 49. THE DEVELOPED FORM OF MONEY 258 50. THE ECONOMIC (OBJECTIVE) EXOHANGE VALUE OF MOENY, OR THE VALUE OF MONEY 262 51. THE MONETARY MATERIAL AND THE BULLION VALUE OF MONEY 265 52. THE NOMINAL VALUE OF MONEY 272 53. THE LAW OF CHANGE IN THE VALUE OF GOLD 279 54. THE HISTORICAL CHANGES IN THE VALUE OF MONEY AND THE DISAPPEARANCE OF NATURAL ECONOMY 287 55. MEASURING·THE VALUE OF MONEY 290 56. THE MONEy-FORM OF CAPITAL 292 57. THE PROCESS OF CAPITAL-FORMATION IN THE MONEy-ECONOMY 298 58. THE CAPITAL MARKET 303 59. THE COMPUTATION IN MONEY 304 PART III THE CREATION OF THE COMMUNITY OF ACQUISITION AND THE FORMATION OF INCOME 309 60. THE DIVISION OF LABOR 309 61. THE LOCALIZATION OF.INDUSTRY 314 62. THE ECONOMIC STRATIFICATION OF SOCIETY 317 63. THE ENTERPRISE 322 64. SOCIAL ECONOMY AND SOCIAL INCOME 330 65. AGRICULTURAL RE;NT 334 66. RENT OF URBAN LANDS 338 67. PRODUorIVE INTEREST 345 68. CONSUMPTIVE INTEREST 350 69. ENTREPRENEUR INCOME AND ENTREPRENEUR PROFITS 353 70. PROMOTER'S ENTERPRISE AND PROMOTER'S PROFITS 358 CONTJE,N'rS vii 71. SPECULATION ON THE EXCHANGE AND THE PROFITS OF SPECU- LATION 363 72. THE THEORY OF WAGES 367 73. THE FORMATION OF WAGES IN THE MODERN LABOR-MA.RKET 372 74. YIELD-WAGE AND THE VALUE OF LABOR 380 PART IV THE·CONSTITUTION OF THE PRIVATE ECONOMY 389 75. THE) CONSTITUTION OF'THE PRIVATE ECONOMY AT THE DAWN OF THE CAPITALISTIC ERA 389 76. THE DOMINATION OF CAPITALISM IN MODERN NATIONALECONOMY 400 77. THE THEORETICAL FOUNDATIONS FOR THE DOMESTIC POLICY OF THE NATIONAL-ECONOMY OF THE PRESENT DAY 408 BOOK III THEORY OF THE STA.TE-ECONOiMY 78. THE PUBLIC ECONOMIC PROCESS 419 79. VALUE IN THE ECONOMY OF THE STATE 425 80. THE ECONOMIC PRINCIPLE IN STATE ECONOMY 430 BOOK IV THEORY OF THE WORLD ECONOMY 81. THE WORLD ECONOMY 437 82. THE INTERNATIONAL·FORMATION OF PRICES 441 83. EXCHANGE-VALUE AND CURRENT ·VALUES OF MONEY IN INTER- NATIONAL TRADE 444 84. THE EQUALIZATION OF THE INTERNATIONAL BALANCE OF PAY- MENTs AND THE MOVEMENTS 0]' THE TRADE BALANCE 448 85. THE DEVELOPMENT OF NATIO:N"AL AND WORLD ECONOMIES 456 ABBREVIATIONS 463 INDEX 465 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 FOREWORD Friedrich von Wieser's Social Economics holds a place in the litera ture of the Austrian School such as ~rohn Stuart ;Mill's Political Economy holds in the literature of classical theory. It sums up, systematises, and extends the doctrines developed by the founder of the school, the author, and his fellow 'workers. Like Mill's great book, it is distinguished by admirable exposition-elegant in proportions, mature in expression, authoritative in source. And it promises to be come like Mill's book·the point of departure from which a generation of younger men set out in.their efforts to increase knowledge. Yet in certain respects a comparison 'with Mill does less than jus tice to Wieser. Social Economics is the first systematic treatise upon economic theory at large produced by the Austrian School, whereas several attempts to cover the field of classical theory had been made before Mill wrote. Wieser's economie work is also more original than Mill's. His own early writings ranlt: higher among the constructive contributions which he weaves into a balanced exposition than do Mill's Essays upon some Unsettled IQuestions of Political Economy. More than that, in deepening and broadening his earlier discussions, Wieser reveals again the thoroughness, vigor, and originality for which he has always been notable. ]\fiU wrote his Principles at high speed to round out his social philosophy. Even in later editions he did not incorporate all the changes 'which he admitted were desirable in the classical doctrines. Wieser, on the. contrary, broug-ht his full power to bear upon his treatise. It is the fruition ofa lifetime's reflection as well as the crowning achievement of a famous school. In his Gymnasium days, von Wieser had been fascinated by Homer, Virgil, the Niebelungenlied,.and by history which followed epic tradi tions. He dreamed of becoming an historian. But he came from one of the aristocratic Viennese families whose sons commonly enter the public service, and the path to public service was the law. While fol lowing this path at the University, he chanced upon Herbert Spen cer's early writings on sociology, and was fired with a new ambition. Spencer'8 logic convinced him for the time that the "great-man theory" of history is an illusion; it is the culture of a people which ix SOCIAL ECONOMICS produces the hero. Therefore, to understand history one must un derstand society first. The aspect of social relations most open to un derstanding is the economic aspect. And the central problem of eco nomic life is the problem of value. So the young jurist concentrated upon the economic courses ofthe lawcurriculum, and began to ponde! the problem which he was later to illuminate. Carl Menger had published his Grunds·iitze der Volks'wirtschafts lehre in 1871, and been appointed to a professorship at Vienna.in 1873. .Von Wieser did not attend Menger's lectures, but he found in Menger's book the clues he needed. After taking a law degree in 1875, he and his.friend Eugen von Bohm-Btawerk spent two years at the Universities ofHeidelberg, Leipzig and Jena. While at Heidel berg in the spring of 1876, the two Austrians presented reports to KarIKnies'seminar. One report dealt with "The Relation of Cost to Value," the other report with.the theory of··interest. At the next opportunity, Wieser showed his manuscript to Menger, and was en couraged to seek a·university·career. On returning to Vienna from his German studies, the young econo mist received an appointment- in the Tax Administration. .In 1883 he became Privatdozent at the University. Next year he published the book expected from aspirants to an academic chair, Ursprung tt·nd Hauptgesetze deswiJrtsckaftlichenWerthes" and was soon made professor in the German University of·Prague. In this first book, von Wieser analyzed a valuation made apart from others by a single person,.but a person who represents the population of a mod ern nation. In his second book, Der naturlicke Werth, he attempted "to exhaust the entire sphere of the phenomena of value·without any exception." The analytic power here revealed ranked the writer with Menger and Bohm-Bawerkas one of the three ma-sters of the Austrian school. When Professor William Smart was introducing the Austrian theory to English-speaking economists, he chose Wieser's Natural Value for translation in preference to Menger's Grundsiitze. So far von Wieser had concentrated his scientific effort·upon one central problem. After the publication of Der naturliche Wertk in 1889, he turned to questions of money, public finance, politics, and sociology. In.1903 he left his chair inPtague ·to become professor of economics in Vienna. He also served for a while as Minister of Commerce. During the twenty-five years following 1889, his pub lications dealt mainlywith detailed problems; butall this time he was quietly.developing and maturing his thoughts upon e'conomic theory at lar.~e, and upon his·still ·earlier .problem of the·relations between society and its leaders. Always critical of his own work, he seldom

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