ABSTRACT
§1. In considering changes, and the cause of changes, in the shares of the total income of any community, which are received by various economic categories or by various persons, the distinction between absolute and relative shares is fundamental. This distinction between “portions” and “proportions” 1 is, of course, very obvious. No one, it might be supposed, would be likely to confuse an actual sum, whether of money or goods, with a mere fraction or percentage. But, in fact, economic thought, both ancient and modern, abounds with confusions on this point. 2
