Cournot, Augustin on Superphysics

Value In Exchange Or Of Wealth In General

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

The Teutonic root Rik or Reich has passed into all the Romance languages.

It vaguely expressed a relation of superiority, strength, or power.

Los ricos hombres is still used in Spain for distinguished noblemen and eminent men. Such is also the force of the words riches hommes in the French of de Joinville.

Wealth as Value in Exchange

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

The abstract idea of wealth or of value in exchange* is a definite idea.

Superphysics Note!

This is different from Smith’s definition of wealth which is the actual quality and quantity of useful goods and services.

Consequently, it is susceptible of rigorous treatment in combinations. It must be carefully distinguished from the accessory ideas of:

Cournot's Theory of Wealth

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

A favourable event such as the improvement of the condition of the people, might initially be accompanied by a reduction in the mass of values in circulation.

We are tempted to suppose that:

Preface

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

The science of Political Economy has so much interested thinkers for a century.

It is today more diffused than ever before.

It shares with politics proper the attention of the great journals, which are today the most important means of spreading information.

Changes In Value, Absolute And Relative

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Whenever there is occasion to go back to the fundamental conceptions on which any science rests, and to formulate them with accuracy, we almost always encounter difficulties, which come, sometimes from the very nature of these conceptions, but more often from the imperfections of language.

For instance, in the writings of economists, the definition of value, and the distinction between absolute and relative value, are rather obscure: a very simple and strikingly exact comparison will serve to throw light on this.