Better Gutenberg
Free, beautifully formatted public-domain ebooks

Principles of Political Economy, Vol. 1

by Wilhelm Roscher

121 of 168 · Contents · Download EPUB

Section CII Demand

The purchaser in his demand is wont to consider principally the value in use of a commodity, according as it, in a higher or lower degree, ministers to a necessary want, to a decency or to a luxury. The difference of opinion as to which of these categories any given want belongs depends not only on the nature of the country and the customs of its people, but, for the most part, also, on the prejudices of class and on personal individuality.613 A reasonable man will employ only the surplus of the first class in the satisfaction of wants of the second, and again only the surplus of the second in the satisfaction of wants of the third.614

If the value in use of a commodity rises or falls, and surrounding circumstances remain unchanged, its price also rises or falls.615616

← Back to Principles of Political Economy, Vol. 1

Scroll to Top