L' Allemagne économique ou histoire du Zollverein Allemand

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Monograph

Identifikator:: 832279064

URN:: urn:nbn:de:zbw-retromon-64432

Document type:: Monograph

Author:: Worms, Émile

Title:: L' Allemagne économique ou histoire du Zollverein Allemand

Place of publication:: Paris

Publisher:: Ainé

Year of publication:: 1874

Scope:: 1 Online-Ressource (VII, 631 S)

Collection:: Economics Books

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RODBER TUS-J A GE TZOIV. 17 Other two-thirds will go to capital. The hands thrown out of work by the introduction of the machine will find employment " elsewhere, and as consumers they will in part profit by the lowering in price of the products, consequent on the employ ment of mechanical contrivances. It cannot be denied that the working man is better fed, better lodged, and better clothed to-day than formerly. If, then, it is true that the aggregate of wages bears a less proportion to the national produce, because fixed capital, the source of the increased production, engrosses an increasing share, the position of the labourer is, on the other hand, improved, because competition, by bringing down the selling-price of commodities to a level with the cost of pro duction, causes all consumers to profit by the progress of manufacture. ^ Rodbertus criticises in a very specious way the theory of Ricardo that rent arises from the necessity of bringing into cultivation more and more refractory land. According to him, rent arises ^simply from the increased productivity of labour, and there would be rent even if all lands were equally fertile. If a man by cultivating the soil can draw from it more than is necessary for his subsistence, he can give up the surplus to somebody else, and, if he does not own the land himself, he will be obliged to give it to the owner. The landlord will ask all he can get ; the amount which the tenant can pay will depend on the quantity of produce, the price of this produce, and the necessary cost of its production. Rent will increase accordingly, if more is produced per acre, if the produce is sold at a higher price, or if it is produced more economically. Once more, it follows from this that the more productive agricultural labour becomes, the more the landlord’s share increases, while that of the labourer, remaining the same, will bear a less proportion to the total produce. These deductions contain a portion of the truth. In fact, in order that there should be rent, it is enough that land should be the subject of a monopoly and should produce more than suffices for the maintenance of him who cultivates it. But Rodbertus has not paid attention to the fact that if agricultural labour, by becoming more productive, brings. c

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