Elementary Principles of Economics | by Richard T. Ely and George Ray Wicker
A text-book to teachers and students of economics
Elementary Principles Of Economics
Ely And Wicker
Elementary Principles Of Economics
Together With A Short Sketch Of Economic History
By
Richard T. Ely, Ph.D.,Ll.D.
Professor Ok Political Economy In The University Of Wisconsin
And
George Ray Wicker, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor Of Economics In Dartmouth College
New York
The Macmillan Company
London: Macmillan &Amp; Co., Ltd.
1909
All rights reserved
Copyright, 1904, By THE MACMILLAN COMPANY.
Set up and electrotyped. Published May, 1904. Reprinted November, 1904; July, 1905; September, 1906; January, July, September, 1907 ; January, 1908 ; July, 1909
Preface- In offering this text-book to teachers and students of economics, the authors feel that a brief word of explanation and suggestion may afford help in judging ...
Chapter I. Preliminary Remarks On The Nature Of Economics- Although the whole book which follows is but an expanded definition of economics, the student who is about to enter upon a study of the subject may well wish ...
Chapter II. The Principal Divisions Of Economics- Economics is a science which covers so wide a field that it has been found desirable to divide it into parts, each of which is often treated by writers in ...
Chapter III. Fundamental Institutions In The Existing Socio-Economic Order- In every civilized State to-day there are certain conditions under which men perform their economic activities, but which are so fundamental in their nature ...
IV. The Right to Establish Private Enterprises- The right to establish private enterprises is another fundamental one which is nevertheless changing and changeable. It is only within the last century that ...
Book II. Chapter I. A Brief Sketch Of Economic History. Introductory- What Economic History Is.In beginning the study of economic history it will be well for us to recall what has been said in a preceding chapter as to the nature ...
Economic Stages- I. Stages in the History of Labor 1. Slaughter of enemies. 2. Slavery and serfdom, along with free labor, regulated by custom, operating through contract. 3.
Early Stages Of Industrial Development I. The Hunting and Fishing Stage- General Characterization. In the first stage of man's economic development, nature is the great factor in production. There is little labor and less capital.
Early Stages Of Industrial Development II. The Pastoral Stage- General Characterization. Between uncivilized man, who uses what he finds, and civilized man, who makes what he wants, there is a middle ground. The man of ...
Early Stages Of Industrial Development III. The Agricultural Stage- General Characterization. Man's next accomplishment, which carries him a distinct stage farther in his development, is of immense importance. Already knowing ...
Early Stages Of Industrial Development IV. The Handicraft Stage- General Characterization. We have said on an earlier page that real material civilization begins with making things; it is with the stages in which men make ...
Chapter III: The Industrial Stage In England- We come now to the last of the stages in man's economic development. Inasmuch as this last stage is the one in which we are living, it will be well to give to ...
II. The Industrial Revolution in England- Economic Conditions in 1760. It was in England that the change from the handicraft stage to the industrial stage first began and was most rapidly accomplished.
II. The Industrial Revolution in England. The Changes and their Result- 1. Changes in Agriculture. During the eighteenth century there were great changes in English agriculture. High prices made possible more intensive farming, and ...
Reaction Against the Passive Policy of Government- We have already explained that accompanying the change in industrial methods went a radical change in opinion as to the proper attitude of the State toward ...
Chapter IV. The Industrial Stage In The United States. I. The Industrial Revolution in the United States and England Contrasted- The story of the Industrial Revolution and of the industrial stage in England is in great part the story of the revolution and the stage in all countries that ...
II. State Regulation of Competition in the United States Labor Legislation in the United States.- We have already noted and explained the fact that the misery and degradation of the wage-earning classes, which in England led to a reaction in favor of an ...
Book III. Economic Theory Part I. Consumption. Chapter I. Introductory. Utilities and Goods- We have now studied the history of man's efforts to get a living, and the fundamental conditions which determine all his efforts to that end. We have now to ...
Chapter II. The Law Of Diminishing Utility- Illustrations of the Law. The wants of men are innumerable and, considered as a whole, are never satisfied. There seems to be no limit to the variety of things ...
Chapter III. Demand- The Economic Order of Consumption. It follows from the law of diminishing utility that men in satisfying their wants consume commodities in a fairly regular ...
The Laws of Demand- We have already explained that the study of human wants is directly connected with the study of consumption, and that the study of consumption leads to the ...
Chapter IV. The Economy Of Spending And Saving- Two important questions regarding economy in consumption remain to be studied. The first question is, briefly, How can one's whole expenditure or consumption ...
The Economy Of Spending And Saving. Some Rules for Economy in Choices- We may exercise an influence over the growth of our own wants, in such a way that a great real satisfaction may flow from a comparatively small expenditure.
Part II. Production. Chapter I. Introductory- Why Production should be studied Next. We have made human wants, consumption, and demand the first subjects of our study of economic theory because it is from ...
Over-production and Under-consumption- It is not uncommon to find men expressing a belief in the possibility of general over-production. Still more common is it for men to hold views which could ...
Chapter II. The Factors Of Production- The Three Factors.Three things contribute to production as it is carried on to-day. They are therefore called the factors of production. Of these, two are ...
Labor- Definition. The second of the primary or original factors in production is labor. Labor is human exertion of mind or body undergone with the object of creating ...
Capital- Definition. The third factor in production, the secondary or derived one, is capital. Much as hydrogen and oxygen produce water, land and labor produce capital.
Chapter III. The Organization Of Production- In the preceding chapter we have considered the factors of production separately, studying the nature of each, and the principles governing its efficiency and ...
II. The Organization of the Factor Labor- In studying the forms of business undertaking, we have really been studying the different ways in which society secures cooperation and organization of the ...
III. The Organization of the Factor Capital- In the foregoing discussion of the organization of labor, it will perhaps have been noticed that the organization of labor is intimately associated with the ...
V. Conditions Determining the Organization of Production- We have already noted in passing one or two of the conditions upon which depend the efficiency of organization of production. It may be well to bring them ...
VI. Large Scale and Small Scale Production Compared- Modern times have witnessed a wonderfully rapid growth in the average size of the individual business. Indeed, the change in the size of the business unit ...
Part III. Transfers Of Goods. Chapter I. Introductory- The Nature of the Subject. We have now studied two of the main parts of economic theory. We have learned something regarding the consumption of goods, and also ...
Chapter II. Value- Meaning of the Term. One of the most important and difficult problems in economics, and the central problem in transfers or exchange, as well as in ...
Cost of Production and Value- The value of this third class of goods is due to precisely the same cause that lies back of the value of all goods, namely, utility under a condition of ...
Frictional Elements Most Frequently Present In Modern- Business, Preventing The Realization Of The Perfectly Competitive Price It remains for us to consider briefly but in detail some of the frictional elements ...
Chapter III. Monopolies And Monopoly Value- In the preceding chapter we reached the conclusion that in the case of goods freely produced under competitive conditions, value is determined on the side of ...
Advantages claimed for Public Ownership- The principal advantages which are claimed for public ownership of such monopolies call for a brief discussion. 1. Increase of Public Prosperity. A general ...
Chapter IV. Money- Having discussed at length the fundamental principles on which exchange and value rest, we pass naturally to consider the nature of the complex mechanism by ...
Money. Coinage- Coinage. When the metals first came to be used as a medium of exchange, they passed from hand to hand in their rough state, as dust, or in nuggets, and the ...
The Value of Money and the Cost of Production- Finally, it should be added, the theory holds that in the long run, the value of money is influenced by the cost of production of the precious metals. Dear ...
Changes in the Amount of Money : Bimetallism- The Amount of Money Needed. The question has often been asked, How much money does a country need ? And the answer has sometimes been given: It makes no ...
Bimetallism. Recent Monetary History- Recent Monetary History states, as well as others, still provides a place for silver in its currency. By the Bland-Allison Act of 1878, the Secretary of the ...
Chapter V. Credit And Banking- What Credit Is. We have seen the immense development in exchange that has been made possible by the use of money, a development resulting in the division and ...
The Nature Of Banking Operations- The nature of banking operations will be made clearer by an examination of the following statement of the condition of a national bank: Resources \ Liabilities ...
Evils of Credit- But we must not overlook the dark side of our credit economy. Without expanding upon the evils of credit we may mention some of the more important of them as ...
Chapter VI. International Trade- The subject of international trade calls for somewhat extended study before we leave the division of transfers or exchange. Nations do not live to themselves ...
II. Restrictions on International Trade- Objects of the Restriction. Nations have always laid restrictions upon international commerce, and an examination of the history of such restrictions discloses ...
Does Protection protect Labor ?- The free-traders maintain (7) that the argument of the protectionists that a protective policy benefits the laborer will not bear close analysis. For nearly ...
Part IV. Distribution. Chapter I. Introductory- The Meaning of the Word Distribution. Having studied under the head of consumption the human wants that lead to economic activity, and the satisfactions that ...
Chapter II. Rent- As in the study of the factors of production we first discussed the factor land, so here in our study of the distribution of the social income among the ...
Rent of Agricultural Land- To-day there exist large areas of land which may be had for nothing. Of this land some is cultivated which pays no rent; some is not cultivated at all. Why, ...
Rent of Urban Land- The fact that situation is the factor of special importance in determining the desirability of urban land leads to certain peculiar results that call for ...
Chapter III. Wages And The Labor Problem I. How Wages are Determined- We have pointed out that of the factors of production, land and labor are the primary and original ones. Having discussed rent, or the portion of the product ...
II. Labor Organizations- Wages have been shown to be largely dependent upon the relative bargaining strength of the laborers as compared with that of entrepreneurs and others who ...
Weaknesses of Labor Organizations- Some of the weaknesses of labor organizations have already been touched upon. These and other weaknesses, some inherent in the nature of the unions and some ...
III. The Relation of the Laborer to the Product of his Labor- Labor organizations strive to secure higher wages and better conditions of employment for workingmen than they would otherwise obtain, and thus to increase ...
Arbitration and Conciliation- We cannot dismiss this subject of the relation of the laborer to the product of his labor without a few words regarding the part that arbitration and ...
Chapter IV. Interest- After our long excursion into the subject of labor and its reward, it may be well for us to pause a moment and place in the right connection what is to follow.
The Austrian Theory of Interest- But what is it that determines the rate which the marginal investor will regard as just repaying him for his saving or abstinence ? This question finds its ...
Circumstances affecting the Rate - There is both a real and an apparent fluctuation in the interest rate from place to place and from time to time. The apparent fluctuation is that which is due ...
Chapter V. Profits- Economists recognize a fourth regular share in the distribution of the social income, though they have not been agreed as to precisely what this share consists ...
Pure Profit and Monopoly Gains Contrasted- Under sharp and increasing competition, pure profit rests upon a precarious foundation. If the special ability upon which the profit depends is such as cannot ...
Chapter VI. Socialism- The Relation of Socialism to Distribution. In the fore-going chapters we have explained how in the existing social organization the annual produce of industry ...
Not all Public Business is Socialistic- It must be observed that not every public activity in relation to industry is socialistic. Properly speaking, that only can be considered socialistic which ...
The Weaknesses of Socialism- In considering socialism as a scheme for social reconstruction, a number of difficulties suggest themselves. Prominent among these is (1) the probable numbing ...
Present Status of the Socialist Political Movement- Socialism as a practical political movement has been making surprisingly rapid strides in Europe within the last decade. It is impossible to make an accurate ...
Book IV. Public Finance. Chapter I. Expenditure And Revenue- I. Introductory Remarks on the Nature of Public Finance Definition of Public Finance. Public finance is the science, or the branch of economics, which deals ...
II. Public Expenditure- The Magnitude of Public Expenditure.The importance of public finance becomes more apparent when we consider the magnitude of government expenditures in modern ...
III. Public Revenue- Classification. Differing classifications of public revenue have been almost as numerous as the writers who have made them. Without entering into a discussion ...
Land Nationalization and Land Municipalization- A very large number of intelligent citizens of England, Australia, and the United States are adherents and devoted advocates of a scheme for entirely ...
Chapter II. Revenues In The United States I. Federal Revenues- The following table shows the Federal revenue classified by sources for the fiscal year ending June 30, 1903 : Customs...............$284,479,582 Internal ...
II. State Revenues- Income taxes and inheritance taxes have been levied by the Federal government, but as these taxes have also been resorted to by the states, we may defer our ...
Corporation Taxes- Partly owing to the proved injustice of the general property tax, but partly also owing to the recent great growth of the corporate form of business enterprise, ...
III. Local Revenues- Local areas of administration in the United States have usually relied in the main upon the same taxes which are levied by the state governments. Thus, as has ...
IV. A Balanced Revenue System- In what has gone before, we have not dwelt upon the question whether any forms of revenue are particularly appropriate to different divisions of our government, ...
Appendix I: Subjects For Essays, Discussions, And Debates- The following list is intended simply to be suggestive. Students are advised first of all to choose such subjects for study as are best suited to the local ...
Appendix I: Subjects For Essays, Discussions, And Debates. Continued- Taxation And The Tariff Adam Smith on Taxation. Income Tax Decisions of the United States Supreme Court Taxes that Can Be Shifted. Taxation and Perjury. The ...
Appendix II. Courses Of Reading- It is believed that both students and teachers may derive valuable aid from the following selected bibliographies. The first group in each case includes works ...
Appendix II. Courses Of Reading. Continued- Socialism Group 1 Bellamy, E.: Looking Backward. Brooks, J. G.: The Social Unrest. Ely, R. T.: Socialism and Social Reform. Gronlund, L.: The Cooperative ...