Moreover, this writer, generally so clear and decided,
embarrasses himself with vain distinctions: "We may APPRECIATE
the value of things; we cannot MEASURE it,--that is, COMPARE it
with an invariable and known standard, for no such standard
exists. We can do nothing but ESTIMATE THE VALUE of things by
comparing them." At other times he distinguishes between REAL
values and RELATIVE values: "The former are those whose value
changes with the cost of production; the latter are those whose
value changes relatively to the value of other kinds of
merchandise."
Singular prepossession of a man of genius, who does not see that
to COMPARE, to APPRAISE, to APPRECIATE, is to MEASURE; that
every measure, being only a comparison, indicates for that very
reason a true relation, provided the comparison is accurate;
that, consequently, value, or real measure, and value, or
relative measure, are perfectly identical; and that the
difficulty is reduced, not to the discovery of a standard of
measure, since all quantities may serve each other in that
capacity, but to the determination of a point of comparison.
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