ABSTRACT
In the preceding chapter, attention was directed to the relation between the valuation of each unit of a commodity by its owner and the supply of the commodity at his disposal, as also to the resulting differences in the relative valuation of different commodities, according to the relation existing between the supply of each and the purposes which can be served by its use. The comparison of the marginal utilities which the different commodities possess is the basis of their relative valuation. But these are comparisons made by each person between the different parts of his stock of wealth. The valuations made, by different persons, of the same goods, will not be of necessity the same, since they depend on the relation between the supply each has and his capacity for appreciating the services or satisfactions which the use or ownership of the goods can procure. Different individuals, if in possession of precisely equal supplies of the same kinds of goods, would not necessarily make the same comparative valuations of the goods. Before proceeding to consider how this is likely to affect the production of goods, we may usefully examine the results which may flow from exchange, apart from the causes which affect the supplies of goods which are at the disposal of various persons.
