No, he isn't thinking of lawyers and accountants. I went to check the quotation on Google Books. Marx's point is that typical microeconomic models assume barter of one commodity for another. But in the world of a money based economy if I want to exchange linen for a Bible I sell the linen to one person and buy the Bible from another. So three people have to be involved in this transaction. OTOH, then his comment that money sticks to a third person doesn't make a lot of sense, it's the seller of the Bible who ends up with the money.
Thanks David. I was kinda kidding about the lawyers and accountants. I agree that the line doesn't seem to fit in the transactions Marx is describing, since he does seem to be talking about a third party not directly involved in the exchanges, but it does not fit with the surrounding text. Perhaps he did what we're all prone to do: popping in a great sentence even though it doesn't belong there. Doesn't it better belong with his critique of (is it Adam Smith's?) the theory that free exchange will lead to a kind of efficient equilibrium?
Regardless: what a great line it is: circulation sweats money from every pore. Mmm.
3 comments:
No, he isn't thinking of lawyers and accountants. I went to check the quotation on Google Books. Marx's point is that typical microeconomic models assume barter of one commodity for another. But in the world of a money based economy if I want to exchange linen for a Bible I sell the linen to one person and buy the Bible from another. So three people have to be involved in this transaction. OTOH, then his comment that money sticks to a third person doesn't make a lot of sense, it's the seller of the Bible who ends up with the money.
Thanks David. I was kinda kidding about the lawyers and accountants. I agree that the line doesn't seem to fit in the transactions Marx is describing, since he does seem to be talking about a third party not directly involved in the exchanges, but it does not fit with the surrounding text. Perhaps he did what we're all prone to do: popping in a great sentence even though it doesn't belong there. Doesn't it better belong with his critique of (is it Adam Smith's?) the theory that free exchange will lead to a kind of efficient equilibrium?
Regardless: what a great line it is: circulation sweats money from every pore. Mmm.
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