Chapter 45 Chapter 2 Introduction to Distribution (Continued)

Section 1. The causes which affect the supply of factors of production and the causes which affect the demand all have an equal influence on distribution. As indicated at the beginning of the previous chapter, we shall now complement the study of the effects of demand on distribution by studying the reaction of compensation to the supply of the various factors of production.In examining the roles played by production costs and utility (or desirability) in determining the distribution of national returns to various labourers, capitalists, and landowners, we must discuss both together. Ricardo and the able entrepreneurs who followed him regarded the function of needs as self-evident and needing no explanation.They have neither emphasized it nor studied it in sufficient detail; this neglect has caused great confusion and clouded the truth of the matter.In this reaction there is a prejudice that the remuneration of each factor of production derives from, and is then chiefly determined by, the value of the product in which it takes part; According to the same principle.Some people even think that it is possible to form a complete theory of distribution from the generalization and application of the law of land rent.But they won't get there.Ricardo and his followers seem to have the right intuition, for they tacitly assume that the study of power is more urgent and more difficult.

When we study what determines the (marginal) efficiency of a factor of production, be it labor of any kind or physical capital, we find that the timely solution of the problem requires knowledge of the present supply of that factor; for if the supply increases, Then it will be used for smaller and less efficient uses.And the final solution of the problem also requires knowing the reasons that determine that supply.A thing, whether it be labor of a particular kind, or capital, or otherwise; its nominal value, like the keystone of an arch, is maintained in its equilibrium by opposing pressures on both sides; One is the pressure of demand, and the other is the pressure of supply.

The production of anything, whether a factor of production or a commodity for present consumption, must extend to the limit or margin of the equilibrium of supply and demand.The quantity of a commodity and its price, the factors of production used to produce the commodity and their prices, all these factors are mutually restrictive, if there is some external cause that changes one of the factors, the result of the disturbance will involve the rest of the factors . In the same way, when there are several balls in the bowl, they restrict each other's positions; another example is that there are spring wires (all elongated) with different strengths and lengths on different points of the ceiling to hang a weight, each wire and The equilibrium positions of heavy objects are mutually restricted. If one line is shortened, the original position of each line will inevitably change, and the length and tension of other lines will also inevitably change.

A brief account of the causes which affect the different forms of labor and capital, discussed in the fourth part of the second section.The impermanence of the effect of increased remuneration on individual diligence. The adaptive comparison between normal wages and population growth and enhancement of constitution especially the latter rules.The general effect of the benefits of saving on the accumulation of capital and other wealth. We have seen that the effective supply of any factor of production depends at all times, first, on its existing stock, and second, on the intention of its owners to employ it in production.And this disposition is not determined purely by expected immediate returns; although there is a lower limit, called in some cases direct costs, below which production must cease.A firm, for example, would flatly refuse to start up its own machinery to produce an order that would not compensate for the additional monetary expense of production and the actual wear and tear of the machinery.The same thing happens with regard to the physical exertion and fatigue and other inconveniences of the workers.Although at present we are dealing with costs and remuneration under normal conditions, and not with the direct personal expenditure of the worker in doing a particular job, it may be useful here, in order to avoid misunderstanding, to make a brief statement on the subject.

As has been said, when a man enjoys doing a job he wants to do, it costs him practically nothing.For unless, as some socialists say with considerable exaggeration, something happens which takes away their work altogether, very few people know how much they love their modest work.But whether it is true or not, most people believe that most of the work they do for a living leaves them no residual pleasure, but rather consumes them; The first few hours of work do not cost them as much as the last hour, and they are likely to think that nine hours of work are nine times as costly as the last hour.It seldom occurs to them that by paying each hour at a rate sufficient to compensate the last and hardest hour, they obtain the producer's surplus, or rent.

The longer a man works, or even watches, the greater his desire to rest, unless he is insensible to it, and each additional hour increases his wages and brings him nearer to satisfaction. The stage of his most urgent need, the higher the wages, the sooner this stage will come.However, as wages increase, do new needs arise and new desires to provide for others and for himself in the enjoyment of his old age, or does he quickly satisfy himself with those enjoyments of life that can only be obtained from his work, and strives for More opportunities for rest and activities that are interesting to you are just a matter of personal interest, and there are no universal guidelines to follow.But experience seems to show that the more ignorant races and persons (especially the inhabitants of the tropics) become, the shorter the hours they work, if the higher rates of wages enable them to obtain the customary enjoyments of life with less labor than before. , they will work less vigorously.And men of broad horizon and strong character, unless they would rather divert their activities to noble ends than to work for material gain, work harder and longer at higher rates of wages.But this will be discussed at length under the heading of the effect of progress on value.At this point we can assert that, on average, an increase in wages produces an immediate increase in the supply of productive work.The aforementioned exceptions to this rule are few and far between, but they are not without significance.

Costs are not directly involved because the effective supply of labor is a constant quantity.Because even if the number of working hours in a year is strictly stipulated (in reality, it is not), the intensity of work is still flexible. The third section continues. This result, however, is also affirmative, when we deduce from the present effect of an increase in wages on the work done by individuals to its ultimate effect a century or two later.Indeed, although a temporary improvement in circumstances will bring many young people the opportunity to start a family and start a business, it seems equally likely that the continued increase in affluence will increase or decrease the reproductive rate.But on the other hand, an increase in wages must reduce mortality, unless parents are indifferent to the care of their children.The argument is strengthened if we look at the effect of high wages on the physical and mental strength of the next generation.

For there is some consumption, and if there is some reduction in it, the work cannot be done efficiently, and in this sense it is absolutely necessary at all levels of work. It is true that adults may perfect themselves at the expense of their children, but that only pushes back the reduction in efficiency one generation later.Next, there are the necessities of custom, which are so necessary in custom that men generally prefer to sacrifice the greater part of what are called absolute necessities than to throw away a great part of them.Thirdly, there are daily indulgences, which some, though not all, are unwilling to abandon, even under extremely difficult circumstances.Many of these customary necessities and everyday luxuries are manifestations of material and spiritual progress, the extent of which varies with age and region.The greater their number, the less economically man is a factor of production.But if properly selected, they attain to the greatest extent all productive purposes, for then they enhance the interests of human life.

Any increase in that consumption which is absolutely necessary for efficiency is not worth the gain, and does as much to the national revenue as it does to the national revenue.But an increase in consumption which is not necessary for efficiency can only be solved by an increase in man's control over the forces of nature.This increase in consumption may be due to advances in knowledge and technique of production, to improvements in organization and to the increasing abundance and extension of sources of raw materials, and, finally, to growth in capital and the increase in material means for any given purpose.

It can be seen that the question of how closely the supply of labor adapts to the demand for labor can largely be reduced to this question.How much of the present consumption of the average man is necessary (in the strict sense) to maintain the life and efficiency of youth and old; Many people in the world would rather have it than some real necessity to maintain efficiency.As a means of production, how many are superfluous, although, as an end in itself, some are of course extremely important. As we noted at the beginning of the previous chapter, the early English and French economists included almost all the consumption of the working class in the first category; they did so partly for simplicity and partly because of the The poverty of the English laboring class, and the still greater poverty of the French laboring class; they have judged that the supply of labor will adapt to its effective demand as much as that of machinery, but much more rapidly. Not as fast as the latter.As far as the problems of the less developed countries are concerned today, the answers we have to give do not differ very much from those of the Anglo-French economists.For the laboring classes, in the greater part of the world, have the fewest luxuries, and even a few of the customary necessities, which they can consume.The increase of their remuneration caused a great increase in their number, and their remuneration quickly fell to the level which was only necessary for subsistence.In most parts of the world wages are regulated almost by the so-called iron or brass law, which fixes wages at the cost of raising and maintaining an inefficient working class.

With regard to the countries of modern Western Europe, the answer is quite different.What makes it different is that there have been recent advances in knowledge and liberty, in physical strength and wealth, and in easy access to the rich food and raw material bases abroad.But it is true that, even at the present day, the greater part of the consumption of the British resident body is directed towards subsistence and physical strength; The usage may not be economical, but there isn't any huge waste either.Undoubtedly, some indulgences are absolutely injurious; but they are decreasing relative to others, the chief exception perhaps being gambling.Much of this expenditure, not very economical as a means of cultivating efficiency, helps to form habits of resourcefulness, and to bring variety to life, without which people appear morose, stagnant, and hard-working. And the harvest is less.It is admitted that even in the countries of Western Europe, where wages are highest, skilled labor is generally the cheapest.The industrial development of Japan, it is true, has a tendency to show that certain expensive and customary necessities can be dispensed with without a corresponding loss of efficiency. Although this experience can have far-reaching consequences in the future, it has little to do with the past and the present.In the present and past condition of man, the remuneration of efficient labor in the countries of Western Europe does not greatly exceed the minimum expense required to bring up and train efficient workmen, and to preserve and employ their energies to the fullest, This is still true. We may thus conclude that an increase in wages, unless earned under unhealthy conditions, almost always increases the physical, intellectual, and even moral education of the next generation.When other conditions remain unchanged, the increase in labor compensation will increase the growth rate of labor.In other words, an increase in the demanded price of labor increases the supply of labor.If knowledge, social customs, and family habits remain unchanged, the labor power of the whole people (if not the number of people) and the number of people and labor power in a particular industry can be said to have a supply price, that is, there is a certain level of demand price so that the two are not the same. If the price is higher, the two will increase, and if the price is lower, the two will decrease. We see, then, that demand and supply have the same influence on wages, and that there cannot be any difference between them, like the two sides of a pair of scissors, or the double pillars of an arch.Wages tend to equal the net product of labor, and the marginal productivity of labor determines the demand price of labor.Wages, on the other hand, tend to remain closely (though indirectly and complicatedly) related to the cost of cultivating, training, and maintaining the energies of efficient labour.The various factors in this problem are mutually determining (i.e., constraining); it occasionally equates supply and demand prices: wages are determined neither by demand prices nor by supply prices, but by a series of factors governing supply and demand. reasons to decide. A little explanation is required of such common terms as "general rate of wages" or "general wages of labour."It is convenient to use these terms when we consider distribution broadly, and especially when we consider the general relation of labor and capital.But in fact there is no such thing as a general rate of wages in modern civilization.Among the hundreds of groups of workers, each with its own wage problem, each with its own particular causes (natural and artificial), which govern the price of supply and limit its number; The demand price determined by the need for its services by other factors of production. The fourth quarter continues. There are similar difficulties with the term general rate of interest.But here the chief difficulty arises from the fact that the income from invested capital in certain enterprises (such as factories and ships) is inherently a quasi-rent, and can only be paid if the value of the invested capital remains the same. The basis of this assumption can only be regarded as interest.Leaving aside this difficulty for the moment, and remembering that the term "general rate of interest" applies strictly only to the expected net income from the investment of new free capital, we may sketch the results of the first studies on the growth of capital. We already know that the accumulation of wealth is determined by many factors, such as habits, self-denial, and precautions, and above all the emotional dynamics of the family.Security is a sine qua non of the accumulation of wealth, and in many respects it has been enhanced by the progress of knowledge and the development of culture.But while saving in general is governed by many reasons other than interest rates; When it's low, save more.However, after weighing all aspects, we firmly believe that an increase in the interest rate (or the required price of savings) has a tendency to increase the amount of savings. Interest is the price of using capital in any market, so interest tends to an equilibrium point, making the market's total demand for capital at this rate exactly equal to the coming total supply of capital at this rate.If the market we are talking about is a small market, such as a city or a business in a progressive country, when the demand for capital in this market increases, capital can be drawn from neighboring districts or other businesses to increase the supply of capital, and quickly Satisfy it.But if we regard the whole world or a large country as the capital market, we cannot think that the total supply of capital will increase rapidly and massively due to the change of interest rate.Because the general source of income of capital is the result of labor and waiting, the increase in interest rate can certainly induce people to do extra work and extra waiting, but in the short run, this extra work and extra waiting are more expensive than those in existing capital. Not a lot.Therefore, in the short term, when the demand for capital increases substantially, few people satisfy this demand increase due to an increase in supply, while more people are motivated by an increase in interest rates.Because the interest rate has risen, some capital will gradually withdraw from its use with the lowest marginal efficiency.Raising interest rates can only slowly and gradually increase the total supply of capital. Section 5. Land may be regarded as a special form of capital in relation to the influence of demand on distribution and the use of resources by individuals in production, but it differs from capital in relation to the normal influence of supply on distribution. , and this is what we will discuss in this chapter. The land is not equal to the factors of production produced by man itself and man-made, and the improvement made by man to the land.For the supply of all other factors of production is adapted in different ways and to varying degrees to the demand for their services, but land has no such adaptation.A sharp increase in the remuneration of any class of labor tends to increase the number of that class, or both its efficiency and its number; and the increased supply of efficient labor by that class tends to diminish the value of the services it renders to society. If the number of people increases, the rate of return for each person falls until it reaches its original level.If their efficiency increases, even though the compensation per person may increase more than before, the increased compensation will be due to the increase of national income without detriment to other factors of production. This argument applies to capital; but not to land.So though the value of land has a likeness with that of other factors of production, it is governed by those influences discussed at the end of the last chapter; not by those now discussed. Indeed, from the standpoint of the manufacturer or farmer, the land is only a particular.form of capital.It is also governed by the operation of the law of demand and the principle of substitution discussed in the preceding chapter, since existing land, like existing capital goods or certain kinds of labour, tends to pass from one use to another, Until further transfer is unprofitable.Thus, as far as the discussion of the preceding chapter is concerned, the revenue of a factory, storehouse, or plow (minus wear and tear, etc.) is determined in the same manner as the revenue of land.In any case, the income tends to be equal to the value of the marginal net product of the factor; in the short run, the income is determined by the total quantity supplied of the factor and the demand of other factors for its services. This is only one side of the problem, and the other side is that the land (meaning the land in the old country) is not affected by the reactions described in this chapter.For example, the effect of an increase in the rate of return on the supply of other factors of production, thus on their contribution to national income, and thus on the actual cost of other factors of production to purchase their services.A factory builds an extra floor, or a farm uses an extra plow, and the building or the plow is generally not taken from other factories or farms.The state adds a floor or a plow to its enterprise as an individual adds to his enterprise.The national income to be distributed is therefore greater than before; and in the long run the remuneration of the manufacturer or farmer is not as a rule increased at the expense of other producers.On the contrary, the stock of land (meaning land in the old state) at any time is a fixed stock.When a firm or farmer decides to add a small amount of land to his own business, he is effectively deciding to acquire that land from someone else's business.He added land to his business, but the state did not, and this change in itself does not increase national income. The sixth section summarizes the arguments of this stage. To summarize our discussion at this stage: the total mass of pure products is the true source of the demanded prices of all these commodities, and thus of the factors of production employed in their production.In other words, national revenue is the total net product of all factors of production in a country, and at the same time the only source of payment for these factors: It is divided into labor wages, capital interest, and land and producer surplus or land rent with differential advantages in production.Wages, interest, and ground rent, or producer surplus, constitute the total national income, and the greater the national income, other things being equal, the greater their respective shares. Generally speaking, labor, capital, and land distribute national income in proportion to people's needs for the various services they provide.But this need is not the total need, but the marginal need.The so-called marginal need is the need at the point at which, whether people buy slightly more services (or service results) of a certain factor, or use their extra funds to buy services (or service results) of other factors, it is beneficial to them There is no difference.Other things remaining the same, the greater the share that the factor gets, the faster it seems to increase, unless it fails to increase at all.But with each increase, its need will be less urgent; therefore, its marginal need will be reduced, and its selling price will be lowered.That is to say, an increase in the proportional share or rate of return of any factor would appear to cause forces to operate which would reduce the share of that factor and increase the proportional share of other factors in the national income.This reaction may be slow, but, provided there are no drastic changes in the technique of production and in the general economic conditions of society, the supply of each factor will be strictly regulated by its cost of production; Continually expanding as ever-increasing national income supplies each class with an ever-increasing surplus (more than necessary to maintain efficiency). Section VII deals with the interrelationship between wages and efficiency of workers of different types of work. When studying the effect of the improvement of efficiency and remuneration in one industry on other industries, we can start from such a general fact: if other conditions remain unchanged, the supply of any factor of production is greater, the factor opened up The wider the use of those uses for which it is not itself well suited, the more acceptable the demand for the uses in which it is employed on a margin which is about to prove unprofitable The lower the price, too, will be the price of the factor in each use, if competition can equalize its prices from the various uses.The additional production caused by the increase of this factor increases the national income, and other factors of production also benefit from it, but this factor itself has to bear a lower rate of return. For example, if capital increases rapidly, other conditions being equal, the rate of interest must fall.If the number of people engaged in a particular job increases, other things being equal, wages must fall.Every occasion will lead to an increase in production and an increase in national income; in every occasion, the loss of a certain factor of production will inevitably become the gain of other production factors (not necessarily all production factors).For example, the development of a rich quarry, or the increase in the number or efficiency of the miners, must necessarily improve the dwelling conditions of all classes, and must increase the demand for the labor of bricklayers and carpenters, thereby raising their wages.Bricklayers, as manufacturers of building materials, must be persecuted. Although they also gain benefits from the perspective of consumption, such benefits cannot compensate for their losses.As the supply of this factor increases, the demand for many other factors increases slightly, and for some others greatly increases; but its demand for some factors decreases. We know that the wages of any workman, such as that of a shoe factory, tend to equal the net product of his labour.But wages are not determined by this pure product; for pure product, like other opportunities of marginal use, is determined, along with value, by the general relation of demand and supply.But if (1) the total amount of capital and labor invested in the shoe-making industry has reached a point, at this point, although increasing labor and capital can increase output, it is only beneficial; (3) The factory we are discussing has normal business and normal operation and management capabilities, but the factory is in such a situation that it does not know how to hire an additional employee with normal capabilities and motivation at normal wages. workers, is it worth it.When all the above circumstances have been established, we may roughly conclude that the loss of the labor of the workman would necessarily reduce the net product of the factory, and that its value would be approximately equal to the wages of the workman.Conversely, his wages are approximately equal to this net product (of course, the net product of one cannot be mechanically separated from that of the rest of the workers). The jobs of the various classes of workers in a shoe factory vary in difficulty; but we may neglect the occupational differences of the various classes of workers and assume that they all belong to the same class (this assumption greatly simplifies the wording of the argument without affecting its general nature). Under the conditions of rapid changes in modern industrial production, one industry or another feels at times oversupplied and at other times undersupplied; Intensified.But the mobility of labor is sufficient to make it a fact that the wages of workers of the same rank in the various branches of work in a Western country tend to be equal.Therefore, it is not an exaggeration to say that, generally speaking, each worker at the same level as a shoemaker with normal ability can buy a pair of shoes with his wages (after deducting the cost of raw materials), because the wages spent The time is roughly equal to the time it takes the shoemaker to add the same pair of shoes to the factory's net product.In more general form.For the wages of a hundred days' labour, the individual worker can generally buy the pure product of the hundred days' labor of other workers of his rank.As long as the amount is not exceeded, he can choose arbitrarily. If the normal wages of another worker were half his own, the shoemaker would have to pay three days' wages to buy the pure product of two days' labor of another worker, and so on. Thus, if other conditions remain unchanged, the increase in the net efficiency of labor in any industry (including his own) will increase the real value of the part of the wages that the shoemaker uses to buy the products of the industry in the same proportion; Ceteris paribus, the average level of the real wages of the shoemaker depends directly on, and in proportion to, the average efficiency of the trades (including his own) which produce his wage-goods.Conversely, in a certain industry, if workers give up technological innovations that can increase efficiency by 10%, even if the part of wages used by shoe workers to purchase products in this industry loses 10%.But if the products of other workers are in competition with his, and the efficiency of these workers increases, this increase in efficiency will incur a loss to him, at least temporarily, and a loss if he does not consume the product. bigger. Moreover, he benefits from a change in the relative position of the various classes of labour, in which the shoemaker is elevated relative to other classes of labour.An increase in the number of medical personnel (who sometimes needs a doctor to see a doctor) will be beneficial to him; a large increase in the number of manufacturers, commercial managers and other entrepreneurs, and the increased number will come from other levels, will be even more beneficial to the shoe worker.For the remuneration of management will fall in comparison with the remuneration of manual labour, while the net product of every kind of manual labor must increase.Hence, other things being equal, the shoemaker will buy more of the various commodities with wages which represent his net product. Section 8. We always assume that workers of particular trades and employers of particular trades have no more competitiveness, knowledge, and freedom to compete at said time and place than they actually do. The alternative, the tendency of which we have already discussed, is a form of competition; it may be emphasized again that we do not assume the existence of perfect competition.Perfect competition requires complete knowledge of market conditions.When we consider the operations of the Stock Exchange in the Rue du Lambert, or the Commodities Exchange, it is not far from real life to assume that the brokers have full control of the market; , this assumption is completely untenable.For if a man has sufficient talent to grasp the whole situation of his labor market, he will not remain long in low labor.Economists of old, because they were in close contact with real business life, must have understood this truth; sufficiently classified and restricted, so that they often seem to imply that they do assume perfect competition. It must therefore be emphasized that we do not assume that the members of any industrial group are endowed with much natural talent and foresight, or that they are influenced beyond the normal motives of the members of the group and of the various well-informed persons. Other motives dictate; of course taking account of the general conditions of time and place.Notwithstanding many willful and impulsive actions, despite the mixture of base and noble motives, there is always a tendency that each individual chooses for himself and his children the occupation which seems to him on the whole the most profitable and those occupations within his means and abilities. Section IX deals with the relation between labor in general and capital in general.Capital assists labor.The competition of capital and labor for places of employment.But this term must be interpreted with caution. The last part of the question which remains to be discussed concerns the relation of general capital to general wages.It is obvious that although capital in general and labor are in constant competition for employment in certain particular trades, since capital itself is the embodiment of labor and waiting, this competition is essentially a combination of certain kinds of labor and a great deal of waiting. Competition between labor and several other kinds of labor supplemented by a small amount of waiting.For example, when people say "capitalist machines have replaced many shoemakers", it means that in the past there were many people who made shoes with their hands, and few people made awls and other simple tools with the help of a few; Fewer people are engaged in making shoes than before, but they can produce more shoes than ever before, by means of machines made by engineers, and by a lot of waiting.There is a real and effective competition between capital in general and labor in general, but this competition is not as extensive as the laborer's ability to obtain the assistance of capital at a lower price and improve the methods of production of those products he needs. The gains in efficiency are insignificant. In general, the increased propensity to save increases the waiting service; And keep it from being hired at as high a rate as it used to be.That is to say, the rate of interest will keep falling unless there is an invention which opens up new and advantageous avenues for roundabout methods of production.But this increase of capital, will increase the national revenue; open up new and favorable places for labor to be employed in other ways; and therefore more than compensate for the partial substitution of labor's services by waiting services. The increase in the national income due to the increase of capital and the increase of invention necessarily affects all kinds of commodities: for example, it enables the shoemaker to buy more food, clothes, water, light and heat for his own house with his reward, and Travel and more increase and improve.It must be admitted, however, that the few improvements affect only those commodities which the rich consume, at least at first; disturbances that people may experience.But these occasions are rare and generally small-scale.And even if they were nearly the same, they often received some indirect compensation, for the improvements which were devoted to the luxuries of the rich were quickly extended to the comforts enjoyed by other classes.Though this is not a necessary consequence, the cheapness of luxuries actually increases, in various ways, the tastes of the rich generally for handicrafts and personal services, and the funds with which they can employ them. .This is another aspect of the relation between general capital and general wages. Section 10 Wages depend on the limits of the correctness of the term capital advances. See appendices ten and eleven. It is self-evident that the share of the national income received by any particular laboring class in that year consists of the products of the year, or their equivalents.As a result of the many successes of the year, they directly or indirectly hand over the products of previous years to the various working classes as their reward. The general exchange of labor and capital is that the worker acquires disposition of commodities for direct consumption, and in exchange he advances the employer's goods to the stage of direct consumption.But that applies to most employers, not to those workers who complete the production process.For example, the worker who fixes the watch supplies his employer with more commodities for immediate consumption than he receives as wages; On the face of it we know that the laborers as a whole furnish to their employers more finished products than they receive as wages; and we have reason to think that the wages of labor depend upon the advances of capital to labour.因为（即使除机器，工厂，轮船和铁路外）借给工人的住宅，和在各阶段上生产他们所消费的那些商品所用的原料都表明，资本家预支给他们的比他们预支给资本家的要多得多，即使在他们没有领工资以前已经给资本家工作了一个月。 由此可见，在已经阐明的分配概要中，没有什么东西使一般资本和一般劳动的关系同任何其他二种生产要素的关系发生很大的差别。关于劳动和资本关系的现代学说，是以前学说发展的结果，所不同的只在于现代学说较之穆勒在《政治经济学》第四篇第三章中所讲的理论是更加精确、完整和一致。穆勒在这章中把有关该问题的所有各种因素都集在一起。 综观以上所述，可进一步作出结论：一般资本和一般劳动，在创造国民收益上是相互合作的，并按照它们各自的（边际）效率从国民收益中抽取报酬。它们的相互依存是极其密切的；没有劳动的资本，是僵死的资本；不借助于他自己或别人的资本，则劳动者势必不能久存。哪里的劳动奋发有力，则哪里资本的报酬就高，资本的增殖也很快。由于资本和知识，西方国家的普通工人在许多方面都比以前的王公吃得好，穿得好，甚至住得也好。资本和劳动的合作，如同纺工和织工的合作一样重要。虽然纺工所业居先，但那并不能使它与众不同。一方的发展是同他方的力量和活动分不开的； 不过一方用牺牲他方的办法可以暂时（如果不是永久的）取得较大的国民收益份额。 在现代世界中，私人雇主和股份公司的高级职员本身拥有的资本很少，但他们却是巨大工业机轮的轴心，资本家和工人的利益全都集中于他们且由他们分布，他们把全部利益牢牢地掌握在一起。所以，在讨论就业和工资的变动时（留待本书续其讨论），他们将占有首要的地位；在讨论劳动、资本和土地各自所特有的供求作用上的次要特征时，他们所占的地位虽不是首要的，而却是显著的，但这都是以下八章所要讨论的东西。 附录十将略述“工资基金”学说。那里将指出我们所持观点的理由，该观点认为，工资基金学说过分强调劳动的需求，而忽略了劳动供给的决定因素；它提出资本存量和工资总量的相互关系，来代替借助于资本的劳动产品总量和工资总量的真正相互关系。但那里也将指出持有这一见解的理由。 这种见解认为，如果古典经济学家（也许他们的追随者未必都如此）加以反复思考，则他们一定会解除工资基金学说中令人误会的部分，从而尽量使它和现代学说相一致。附录十一将研究各种生产者和消费者的剩余；所提出的问题只有抽象的趣味，而没有多大的实际价值。 如上所述，各种生产要素的效率（总效率和边际效率）； 它们直接或间接对纯产品总量或国民收益的增益和它们各自所得的国民收益份额，是由许多相互关系联结的，这些关系是如此复杂，以致不可能一次叙述就包括无遗。但借助于数学上严密而简练的词句，即可窥其全貌，当然其中质的差别是无法说明的，除非尽量把它解释成量的差别。