Value; W.H. Pitt

W. H. PITT VAILUIIE The soul of economics The processes of the market are those of a free-running, frictionless machine; and the insertion of Uanti-economic" frictions into the mech anism - what is this but the most disastrous vandalism? IT SEEMS to me that there are two stages in the formation of "value" .,and that it starts with a subjec tive, personal, evaluation, by indi viduals, of the usefulness of an article for the satisfying of their desires. Some of us, having a par ticular desire for an article, make our subjective evaluation of it in deliberate fashion; others, lack ing the particularity of that de sire, or perhaps not requiring the article quite so urgently, make only subconscious measurement of its usefulness, that is, of its utility. The second stage occurs when those with immediate purpose for the article cast around for the Mr. Pitt, of Bayswater in Victoria, Australia, describes himself as a "publicist for freedom."

He is a frequent contributor to journals such as The Australian Financial Review. means of acquiring it. A few will manufacture it for themselves, even though this, in terms of time and effort, is probably the most expensive process. Others, econo mizing a little, will combine their efforts in a cooperative produc tion. But most of us, on desiring something, but not being in such desperate need of it as to warrant our manufacturing it for our selves, will get it "in the market," doing so by exchanging for it some other article or service for which our regard, as vendor, is not at that moment so high. While those manufacturing the item for themselves may seem to have but little effect upon "the market," their outlays in time and effort are nevertheless seen and noted by 515 516 THE FREEMAN September everyone, and form the ultimate base for the price structure. In the market, you see no concern for the reasons, whatever they be, that activate individuals to expend their effort; the concern is for the amount of our effort, were we manufacturing the article for our selves.

In deciding upon an exchange in the mar ket, we commence from our knowledge of the cost in time and effort were we to make the article for ourselves,either indi vidually or cooperatively. But be ing rational, intelligent humans, we seek always to satisfy our de sires with the least expenditure, whether this be measured in time, effort, money, or in other commod ities or services. Therefore, we seek out those who, with an abun dance of the article, or having a facility greater than our own for its production or, having a desire greater than our own for the com modity or service which we can provide in exchange, will offer the article we desire at a price that will give us a saving· in our exer tion. When there are several who will thus offer us the article, the desire to minimize our exertion induces us to seek the best offer, thereby testing the market to its limit and attaining the greatest possible sav ing. The market is thus a mech anism for the economizing or conserving of human energy - the most excellent mechanism of all, not only in that it permits the im-, mediate conservation of energy, but also in that, by acting as a register and indicator, it steers the whole community toward a constantly increasing conserva tion of energy. It thus promotes the maximizing of results and the minimizing of effort.

The Objective Expression In order properly to appreciate the functioning of the market, there has to be recognition of the' fact that everyop.e who "goes to the market" and participates in the exchange of goods and serv ices, does so in order to save him self effort. Any proposed transac-' tion must offer a benefit to both vendor and purchaser, otherwise it will not take place. This is so even when an article or service is offered at a price well below "true value." In every case the offerer is satisfied that in making the deal he is receiving a benefit and is achieving something that he other wise could not. He may regret that he takes his decision at a time when the article or service with which he is parting will bring him less in return than it might at some other time: but at the moment of decision he sees it to be advantageous that he should sell. The advantage is that failure 1969 VALUE - THE SOUL OF ECONOMICS 517 then to make the decision could involve him subsequently in a greater exertion. The market, thus, is a place where goods and services are evaluated, subjective ly, by individuals, the evaluation then being made evident, objec tively through price, to others.

Price, one might say, is the indi cator, the objective expression of and the evidence of value: and value roots in, and is at every stage concerned with, the saving or economizing of effort. Money, the Ultimate Refinement That this view of value is cor rect receives support from the everyday meaning that attaches to the word "economics." Where this word occurs on its own, it is, in general, used in its deepest and widest meaning and, concerned for the prosperity of the com munity as a whole, deals with the fruitfulness of our overall activity and therefore with our overall economy of effort. But when spe cific fields of acti vity are in mind, an appropriate definitive is used: we talk, for example, of "the eco nomics of the sugar industry" and conclude that prospects for the in dustry here in Australia will be good if, or even because, the po litical or climatic conditions in other sugar areas are disastrous and throughout the world there will be deleterious effect upon both other sugar producers and all sugar consumers.

In either the particular case or the general, it is the maximizing of results through the economizing of effort that is our concern. It is our instinct for economizing ef fort that has led to the use of one or another particular commodity as a unit for the measurement of values. Through the subsequent use of tokens for these commodi ties, what we now call "money" has developed and it is its potency in the economizing of time and effort that makes money the ulti mate refinement in the mechanism of the market and the greatest of all our servants. "Price" cannot be the same thing as "value." It is the measure of value and the objective indi cator for the monetarily accepta ble figure, dictated by all our varying individual evaluations, at or around which transactions cus tomarily occur. It is a character istic of "price" that it allows of a benefit for both the vendor and the purchaser, being above the evaluation of the vendor and be low that of the purchaser, each of whom, necessarily, approaches the market in search of different sat isfactions. Like all mechanisms, the market, with its function for the economizing of time and effort, is servant alike to the good, the compassionate, and the perceptive 518 THE FREEMAN September as well as to the evil, the incon siderate, and the oblivious. We interfere with it at our peril, for the interference is interference with the economizing of time and effort, the penalty thus being au tomatic, widespreading, and as sured. This is the lesson of the ages as well as of our immediate logic.

In an inquiry into economics we must commence with the ques tion as to just what it is that we are economizing. Clearly, the an swer is that our inquiry concerns the process whereby human be ings economize in their time and effort, that is, in their exertion; for the economizing of time and effort is the mainspring of ra tional intelligent human activity. With this in mind, we can accu rately determine what value is and how it is to be measured, what price is and how it is ex pressed, what the market is and how it operates, what the true rights of property are and how these rights are not only violated by long-established legal ,vrongs but also threatened by further legalistic damaging of the auto matic processes of the market. These processes are those of a free-running, frictionless ma chine; and the insertion of "anti economic" frictions into the mech anism - what is this but the most disastrous vandalism?

The Essential Simplicity It seems to me that correct theorizing in the realms of eco nomics is an essential prerequisite to the preservation and growth of freedom in its beautiful entirety or in any of its sparkling facets. Until there is a widespread under standing of the essential simplic ity of each section of the market mechanism, there cannot help but be unending attempts at inter ference with the market. These interferences can, of course, never be such as wholly to destroy the market (and freedom) but they can never fail to harm it. Under standing of the processes of the market can come only with ap preciation of two facts, the one that the science of economics has as its concern the economizing of our time and effort, and the other that value, which the most percipi ent perhaps of my friends calls "the soul of economics," can have reference not to cost in terms of labor or effort, not to either of utility or gain, not, although the relationship gets closer, even to scarcity, but only to the saving or economizing of effort.

Summarizing, then: articles of trade are evaluated, subjectively, according to the amount of exer tion which their possession will save for the possessor: and their price, manifested objectively in 1969 VALUE - THE SOUL OF ECONOMICS 519 the market, must always be above their desirability as evaluated by the vendor and below their de sirability as evaluated by the pur chaser. Exactly the same processes of subjective evaluation and ob jective pricing occur with services. In the case of services the out come of exertion is intangible and is promptly dissipated, whereas in the case of articles of trade (commodities) the effect of exertion is applied to material substances and is there for a time stored up in tangible form. In each case, both vendor and purchaser, both prac titioner and client, first consider the effect of past exertion and then aim to conserve future ex ertion. In the estimation of future conserved effort lies the core and center of value. ~ STUDENT POWER and all that BENJAMIN A. ROGGE THE QUESTION is this: To whom does Wabash or any college or uni versity belong? To the current students? to the alumni? to the faculty? to the administration? to the Board of Trustees? to "soci ety"? to some mixture of these agencies?