OF VALUE.

199

There is, perhaps, at the bottom, little actual
difference amongst economists as to these
causes, but they do not agree either in their
methods of explanation, or in the language
they employ. It has been shown, that the im-
mediate causes of value are the considerations
which act on the minds of human beings, and
that the circumstances, which form or furnish
these considerations, must be the causes into
which the economist has to inquire. Our pre-
sent object, therefore, is to find those circum-
stances which act upon the mind with certainty
and precision, in the interchange of commodities
of the class under our notice.

A moments reflection on the subject will
suffice to discover, that the principal of these
circumstances must be the cost of production.
No man, who bestows his time and attention on
the production of a commodity, will continue
to produce it for the purpose of exchanging it
against another commodity, which he knows
costs less to the producer than his own: and, on
the other hand, every producer will be willing