The Principles of Political Economy (Paperback)

Purchase of this book includes free trial access to www.million-books.com where you can read more than a million books for free. This is an OCR edition with typos. Excerpt from book: CHAPTER V. CONSTITUENT ELEMENTS OF CAPITAL PRODUCTIVE AND UNPRODUCTIVE CONSUMPTION DISTINCTION OF CAPITAL INTO FIXED AND CIRCULATING. Capital consists, first, of the wages of labour. Secondly, of those instruments and constructions of all kinds which assist the labourer in the production of wealth. Thirdly, of the materials, in different stages of preparation, on which his labour is exerted. Fourthly, of that amount of the finished commodity which it may be thought expedient by the owner of capital, or capitalist, as he is called, to keep on hand before selling it And lastly, of the money appropriated to the circulation of the various other constituent portions of capital. The wages of labour might seem, at first view, to comprise a part at least of the money mentioned under the last head, onaccount of those wages being ordinarily paid in money. This is, however, not the case. We must be careful not to confound the real wages of the labourer with his money wages. The latter, as has been before stated, are only instrumental in procuring the former. The labourer, who receives money for his services, exchanges it again for the necessaries and comforts of life, both of a material and immaterial nature, which he is enabled by means of it to obtain; and the money is only transitorily in his possession. him by his employer, are a portion of the latter's capital,?consist, in a certain degree, of immaterial products, it will follow that immaterial products may be made to constitute a portion of capital. Perhaps, too, the analogy which has been pointed oat between material and immaterial products will be more clearly apprehended by the reader, if he analyse the mode in which the former of these administers to the gratification of our desires, and compare it with that in wh...