下载辰思小说免费APP
Howwilltheresultingstrainaffecttherelationsofthetworemainingclasses，thelabourersandthecapitalists?Theultimateevilofprotectionisthebaddistributionofcapital。Butcapitalalwaysactsbyemployinglabour。Thefarmer’scapitaldoesnotactbyitself，butbyenablinghismentowork，Hence，tounderstandtheworkingoftheindustrialmachinery，wehavetosettletherelationofwagesandprofits。Ricardostatesthisemphaticallyinhispreface。Rent，profit，andwages，hesays，representthethreepartsintowhichthewholeproduceoftheearthisdivided。’Todeterminethelawswhichregulatethisdistributionistheprincipalprobleminpoliticaleconomy’；andone，headds，whichhasbeenleftinobscuritybypreviouswriters。7Hisinvestigationsareespeciallydirectedbythepurposethusdefined。Hewasthefirstwriterwhofairlybroughtunderdistinctconsiderationwhatheheld，withreason，tobethemostimportantbranchofeconomicalinquiry。
TherewasclearlyagapintheeconomicdoctrinerepresentedbytheWealthofNations。AdamSmithwasprimarilyconcernedwiththetheoryofthe’market。’Heassumestheexistenceofthesocialarrangementwhichisindicatedbythatphrase。
Themarketimpliesaconstitutionofindustrialagenciessuchthat，withinit，onlyonepriceispossibleforagivencommodity，or，rather，suchthatadifferenceofpricecannotbepermanent。Accordingtotheacceptedillustration，theseaisnotabsolutelylevel。butitisalwaystendingtoalevel。8Apermanentelevationatonepointisimpossible。
Theagencybywhichthislevellingorequilibratingprocessiscarriedoutiscompetition，involvingwhatSmithcalledthe’higglingofthemarket。’
Themomentaryfluctuation，again，supposestheactionof’supplyanddemand’
which，astheyvary，raiseanddepressprices。Toillustratetheworkingofthismachinery，toshowhowpreviouswritershadbeencontenttonoticeaparticularchangewithoutfollowingoutthecollateralresults，andhadthusbeenledintofallaciessuchasthatofthe’mercantilesystem，’wasSmith’sprimarytask。
Beyondorbeneaththesequestionsliedifficulties，whichSmith，thoughnotblindtotheirexistence，treatedinavacillatingandinconsistentfashion。Variationsofsupplyanddemandcausefluctuationsintheprice；butwhatfinallydeterminesthepointtowhichthefluctuatingpricesmustgravitate?Wefollowtheprocessbywhichonewavepropagatesanother；butthereisstillthequestion，Whatultimatelyfixesthenormallevel?UponthispointRicardocouldfindnodefinitestatementinhisteacher。’Supplyanddemand’wasasacredphrasewhichwouldalwaysgiveaverbalanswer，orindicatetheimmediatecauseofvariationsonthesurface。Beneaththesurfacetheremustbecertainforcesatworkwhichsettlewhyaquarterofcorn’gravitates’toacertainprice；whythelandlordcangetjustsomanyquartersofcornfortheuseofhisfields；andwhytheproduce，whichisduejointlytothelabourerandthefarmer，isdividedinacertainfixedproportion，tosettlesuchpointsitisnecessarytoanswertheproblemofdistribution，fortheplayoftheindustrialforcesisdirectedbytheconstitutionoftheclasseswhichcooperateintheresult，RicardosawinMalthus’sdoctrinesofrentandofpopulationanewmodeofapproachingtheproblem。Whatwaswanted，inthefirstplace，wastosystematisethelogicadoptedbyhispredecessors。
Rent，itwasclear，couldnotbebothacauseandaneffectofprice，thoughatdifferentpointsofhistreatiseSmithhadapparentlyacceptedeachviewoftherelation。Wemustfirstsettlewhichiscauseandwhicheffect；
andthenbringourwholesystemintothecorrespondingorder。Forthefacts，Ricardoiscontenttotrustmainlytoothers。Thetruetitleofhisworkshouldbethatwhichhiscommentator，DeQuincey，afterwardsadopted，theLogicofPoliticalEconomy。Thisaimgivesapart
