INTERNATIONAL TRADE 163 
view of theory they must be admitted. They 
are special cases of the general exception to 
the doctrine of maximum satisfaction, to 
which Dr. Marshall has drawn attention. 
The doctrine of maximum satisfaction, accord 
ing to one interpretation of it, laid it down 
that under competition labour and capital 
tend to be devoted to their most profitable 
uses ; but Dr. Marshall has pointed out that 
this generalisation does not invariably hold, 
since, for example, consumers’ surplus could 
be increased by diverting some demand 
from things produced according to decreasing 
returns and concentrating it instead on things 
of which the production was subject to 
increasing returns. The explanation of this 
curious conclusion, which, of course, only 
holds when other things are equal, is that 
under competition the individual acts for 
himself and consequently leaves out of his 
calculations that the price of some things 
would fall when they were consumed less 
while the price of other things would fall 
when they were consumed more. I might 
know this as a fact, but I should not be 
disposed to act accordingly, because what I 
alone did would have very little effect and 
there would be no reason to suppose that 
others would follow my example if I acted