Economic Theory
Value (Vol. 27, p. 867) by Dr. J. S. Nicholson, professor of political economy, Edinburgh University, author of Principles of Political Economy, etc. This article, equivalent to 25 pages of this Guide, distinguishes between utility and value—to be valuable a “thing must have some utility; and there must be some difficulty in its attainment.” There are three laws of value—supply and demand, in the discussion of which monopoly-values and competition-values are considered; that of cost of production, in which cost of raw material and wages are obvious factors; and that of increasing cost with increased quantity of production,—upon which depends the theory of rent.
Wealth (Vol. 28, p. 437) is by the same author, who adopts the definition of wealth connected with the name of Adolf von Held, based on a study of consumption, production and distribution of wealth,—“consumable utilities which require labour for their production and can be appropriated and exchanged.”
Consumption (Vol. 7, p. 23) is the “destruction of utilities.”
Production (Vol. 22, p. 423) is the creation of utilities.
Capital (Vol. 5, p. 278) is accumulated wealth available for earning interest and producing fresh wealth. “It is not antithetical to labour, but ... the accumulated savings of labour and of the profits accruing from the savings of labour.” The “importance of ability or brain-work, as against much of modern theorizing against capitalism,” must not be overlooked.
Wages (Vol. 28, p. 229), also by Dr. Nicholson, is equivalent to 17 pages in this Guide. It distinguishes between nominal and real wages, describes the economic wages fund theory, and deals with such topics as state regulation of wages, factory legislation, trades unions and wages, effects of machinery on wages.
Further information, more particularly in the field of finance, will be found in:
Banks and Banking (Vol. 3, p. 334), with a special treatment of American banking by Charles A. Conant, formerly treasurer of the Morton Trust Co., New York City, and author of History of Modern Banks of Issue, and with the general description by Sir Robert Palgrave, director of Barclay & Co., Ltd., and editor of the Dictionary of Political Economy.
Trust Company (Vol. 27, p. 329) is by C. A. Conant, late treasurer of the Morton Trust Co., New York.