The Philosophy of Price, and Its Relation to Domestic Currency (Paperback)

This historic book may have numerous typos and missing text. Purchasers can download a free scanned copy of the original book (without typos) from the publisher. Not indexed. Not illustrated. 1887. Excerpt: ... CHAPTER II. PRICE AND ITS DEPENDENCE UPON CURRENCY. The proposition sought to be made plain and substantiated beyond contradiction in this chapter is, that price, or commer cial value, depends entirely--excepting in cases of a sudden demand or an unexpected deficiency--upon the amount of circulating medium in the country where the price is established; this circulating medium always controlling the ability to purchase. That with an increase of currency prices advance, while with a decrease they fall. That this has been true in ages past I will call economic history to verify. That it is proving true at the present time I will bring our own condition as a nation to testify. The volume of currency indicates the purchasable quantity which can be distributed for labor and its products. The greater that amount, the more can be distributed; the less that amount, the less can be distributed. Money, or currency, is a medium of exchange, and also a measure of value for the purpose of exchange. These were the original and primitive functions of money; and anything that by common consent perforins these functions was and is money. The age has passed when kings rule by divine right; also the time has gone by when any particular creation of Deity is recognized as the only material out of which money can be made. Money has come to be known as purely a creation of law; that the fiat or command which clothes it with these functions is simply the recognized sovereignty of government; that the material out of which it is made is commodity, and only valued as such. In tracing this back we find barter, an exchange between individuals and tribes. As barter increased, the necessity for something to make up the difference in labor value between articles exchanged became apparen...