5. Give examples of wealth never becoming a direct cause of gratification, yet whose possession is greatly valued.
Note.—The conception in this chapter was ably presented by Böhm-Bawerk in Capital and Interest, Bk. III, ch. v, pp. 219-227. He does not, however, make use of it in a theory of rent.
Chapter 8. The Renting Contract
1. What things beside land are rented?
2. What is the form of contract used in the renting of farms, business buildings, and residences, in the community where you live?
3. Does the rent of pianos, type-writers, or masquerade-suits depend on the value of the thing rented? Is the rental a moderate return on the investment?
4. What are the difficulties in determining tenants' improvements?
Note.—Various writers have recognized that social, class distinctions had an influence on the conceptions of rent and capital in England in the eighteenth century; see Fetter, article on "The Next Decade of Economic Theory," in American Economic Association, 3d ser., Vol. III, pp. 236-246, especially 243-4; also A. S. Johnson, Rent in Modern Economic Theory, p. 19, and references there given. Heretofore, however, there has not been assigned to the form of the contract the significance here given it. A discussion of the points at issue will be found in The Relations between Rent and Interest, by F. A. Fetter and others (published by Macmillan, New York, 1904), pp. 8-10, on the renting contract.