ABSTRACT
For different kinds of measurement different kinds of instruments are necessary; for each kind of measurement there is an appropriate technique. Thus Ricardo lays it down that it is by sale or exchange that value is measured. The fact seems to be that in discussing the measurement of value Ricardo had no very clear conception of what is meant by measurement or of what is meant by value. In the Notes on Malthus Ricardo says: ‘A commodity is at its natural value when it repays by its price all the expenses that have been bestowed, from first to last, to produce it and bring it to market’. Ricardo uses the word regulate where measure would seem more appropriate. He says: ‘The value of gold as a commodity must be regulated by the quantity of goods which must be given to foreigners in exchange for it.’.
