Excerpt from Principles of Political Economy; With Sketch of the Rise and Progress of the Science: By J. R. M'culloch, Essay on Interest and Value of Money, by John Locke
Definition of the Science - Its Importance - Causes of its being neglected in Greece and Rome, and in the Middle Ages - Evidence on which its Conclusions are founded - Rise of the Science in Modern Europe - Mercantile System - System of M. Quesnay and the French Economists - Publication of the 'Wealth of Nations' - Distinction between Politics and Statistics and Political Economy.
Political Economy is the science of the laws which regulate the production, distribution, and consumption of those articles or products which have exchangeable value, and are either necessary, useful, or agreeable to man.
When it is said that an article or product is possessed of exchangeable value, it is meant that one or more individuals are disposed to give a certain quantity of labour, or a certain quantity of some other article or product, obtainable only by means of labour, in exchange for it.
The power or capacity which particular articles or products have of satisfying the various wants and desires of which man is susceptible, constitutes their utility, and renders them objects of demand.
An article may be possessed of the highest degree of utility, or of power to minister to our wants and enjoyments, and may be universally made use of, without possessing exchangeable value. This is an attribute or quality of those articles only which it requires some portion of voluntary human labour to produce, procure, or preserve.
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