Economic Principles
Max Hirsch
[Significant chapters from the book by Max Hirsch,
published in Australia, 1896]
PREFACE BY MAX HIRSCH
Melbourne, 1 January, 1896
It is gradually becomining clear to most thinking men that the
political battles of the present and of the near future are being
fought and will be fought on the field of economics. Social questions
are everywhere attracting growing attention. The undue poverty of the
masses and the unmerited riches of the few are more clearly seen to
arise from laws which interfere with the natural distribution of
wealth, i.e.: "That distribution which gives wealth to those who
make it, and secures wealth to those who save it." The same laws
are also strongly suspected of reducing the amount of wealth which
otherwise would be made. It is, therefore, of the utmost importance
that the last results of Political Economy -- of the science which
deals with the production, distribution and consumption of wealth --
should be made accessible to the masses upon whose action future
political developments depend.
This little book is written for the purpose of serving as a guide to
those who intend to study Political Economy, and as a summary of its
more important results for others, who may not have time or
inclination for a detailed study. For the former, especially, it is
important to possess an exposition of guiding principles, by which
detailed arguments can be measured and their cogency tested. To the
latter it may recommend itself by its brevity.
Lest it be assumed that the definitions and conclusions here sete
forth have received the stamp of authority, I have to confess that in
many instances they differ from accepted teaching. Wherever this is
the case, I have supplied what appears to me full reasons for my
divergent view.
If this booklet causes its readers to look more hopefully into the
future; if it reveals to them a way out of the marasmus into which
modern society has fallen through its disregard of justice; if it
proves that the fullest harmony prevails between ethics and economics,
it will fulfil the dearest hopes of its author.
Chapter 1 / Definition of Terms
Chapter 6 / Consumption
|
|