John Locke

According to Locke, unused property is wasteful and an offence against nature,<ref>{{Citation |last=Locke |first=John |title=Two Treatises on Government: A Translation into Modern English |year=2009 |publisher=Industrial Systems Research |isbn=978-0-906321-47-8 |page=81 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=S3eB0IgzJjoC&q=John+Locke+unused+property+waste+offence+against+nature&pg=PA81}}</ref> but, with the introduction of [[Durable good|”durable” goods]], men could exchange their excessive perishable goods for those which would last longer and thus not offend the [[natural law]]. In his view, the introduction of money marked the culmination of this process, making possible the unlimited accumulation of property without causing waste through spoilage.<ref>{{cite web |title=John Locke: Inequality is inevitable and necessary |url=http://www0.hku.hk/philodep/courses/ac/Phil1003-2008/Locke2.ppt |publisher=Department of Philosophy The University of Hong Kong |access-date=1 September 2011 |format=MS PowerPoint |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090509074104/http://www.hku.hk/philodep/courses/ac/Phil1003-2008/Locke2.ppt |archive-date=9 May 2009}}</ref> He also includes gold or silver as money because they may be “hoarded up without injury to anyone,”<ref>{{cite web |first=John |last=Locke |title=Second Treatise |at=§§&nbsp;25–51, 123–26 |url=http://press-pubs.uchicago.edu/founders/documents/v1ch16s3.html |publisher=The Founders Constitution |access-date=1 September 2011 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110911101831/http://press-pubs.uchicago.edu/founders/documents/v1ch16s3.html |archive-date=11 September 2011}}</ref> as they do not spoil or decay in the hands of the possessor. In his view, the introduction of money eliminates the limits of accumulation. Locke stresses that inequality has come about by tacit agreement on the use of money, not by the social contract establishing [[civil society]] or the [[Land law|law of land]] regulating property. Locke is aware of a problem posed by unlimited accumulation but does not consider it his task. He just implies that government would function to moderate the conflict between the unlimited accumulation of property and a more nearly equal distribution of wealth; he does not identify which principles that government should apply to solve this problem. However, not all elements of his thought form a consistent whole. For example, the [[labour theory of value]] in the ”[[Two Treatises of Government]]” stands side by side with the demand-and-supply theory of value developed in a letter he wrote titled ”Some Considerations on the Consequences of the Lowering of Interest and the Raising of the Value of Money”. Moreover, Locke anchors property in labour but in the end, upholds the unlimited accumulation of wealth.<ref>{{cite web |first1=Cobb |last1=Cliff |first2=Fred |last2=Foldvary |title=John Locke on Property |url=http://www.cooperativeindividualism.org/cobb-cliff-and-fred-foldvary_john-locke-on-property-1999.html |publisher=The School of Cooperative Individualism |access-date=14 October 2012 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120315171711/http://www.cooperativeindividualism.org/cobb-cliff-and-fred-foldvary_john-locke-on-property-1999.html |archive-date=15 March 2012}}</ref>

According to Locke, unused property is wasteful and an offence against nature,<ref>{{Citation |last=Locke |first=John |title=Two Treatises on Government: A Translation into Modern English |year=2009 |publisher=Industrial Systems Research |isbn=978-0-906321-47-8 |page=81 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=S3eB0IgzJjoC&q=John+Locke+unused+property+waste+offence+against+nature&pg=PA81}}</ref> but, with the introduction of [[Durable good|”durable” goods]], men could exchange their excessive perishable goods for those which would last longer and thus not offend the [[natural law]]. In his view, the introduction of money marked the culmination of this process, making possible the unlimited accumulation of property without causing waste through spoilage.<ref>{{cite web |title=John Locke: Inequality is inevitable and necessary |url=http://www0.hku.hk/philodep/courses/ac/Phil1003-2008/Locke2.ppt |publisher=Department of Philosophy The University of Hong Kong |access-date=1 September 2011 |format=MS PowerPoint |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090509074104/http://www.hku.hk/philodep/courses/ac/Phil1003-2008/Locke2.ppt |archive-date=9 May 2009}}</ref> He also includes gold or silver as money because they may be “hoarded up without injury to anyone,”<ref>{{cite web |first=John |last=Locke |title=Second Treatise |at=§§&nbsp;25–51, 123–26 |url=http://press-pubs.uchicago.edu/founders/documents/v1ch16s3.html |publisher=The Founders Constitution |access-date=1 September 2011 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110911101831/http://press-pubs.uchicago.edu/founders/documents/v1ch16s3.html |archive-date=11 September 2011}}</ref> as they do not spoil or decay in the hands of the possessor. In his view, the introduction of money eliminates the limits of accumulation. Locke stresses that inequality has come about by tacit agreement on the use of money, not by the social contract establishing [[civil society]] or the [[Land law|law of land]] regulating property. Locke is aware of a problem posed by unlimited accumulation but does not consider it his task. He just implies that government would function to moderate the conflict between the unlimited accumulation of property and a more nearly equal distribution of wealth; he does not identify which principles that government should apply to solve this problem. However, not all elements of his thought form a consistent whole. For example, the [[labour theory of value]] in the ”[[Two Treatises of Government]]” stands side by side with the demand-and-supply theory of value developed in a letter he wrote titled ”Some Considerations on the Consequences of the Lowering of Interest and the Raising of the Value of Money”. Moreover, Locke anchors property in labour but in the end, upholds the unlimited accumulation of wealth.<ref>{{cite web |first1=Cobb |last1=Cliff |first2=Fred |last2=Foldvary |title=John Locke on Property |url=http://www.cooperativeindividualism.org/cobb-cliff-and-fred-foldvary_john-locke-on-property-1999.html |publisher=The School of Cooperative Individualism |access-date=14 October 2012 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120315171711/http://www.cooperativeindividualism.org/cobb-cliff-and-fred-foldvary_john-locke-on-property-1999.html |archive-date=15 March 2012}}</ref>

== Economics ==

== Other Ideas ==

===On price theory===

=== Economics ===

====On price theory====

Locke’s general theory of value and price is a [[supply and demand|supply-and-demand]] theory, set out in a letter to a member of parliament in 1691, titled ”Some Considerations on the Consequences of the Lowering of Interest and the Raising of the Value of Money”.<ref>{{Citation |first=John |last=Locke |year=1691 |url=http://www.marxists.org/reference/subject/economics/locke/contents.htm |title=Some Considerations on the consequences of the Lowering of Interest and the Raising of the Value of Money |publisher=Marxists}}.</ref> In it, he refers to supply as ”quantity” and demand as [[Economic rent|”rent”]]: “The price of any commodity rises or falls by the proportion of the number of buyers and sellers,” and “that which regulates the price…[of goods] is nothing else but their quantity in proportion to their rent.”

Locke’s general theory of value and price is a [[supply and demand|supply-and-demand]] theory, set out in a letter to a member of parliament in 1691, titled ”Some Considerations on the Consequences of the Lowering of Interest and the Raising of the Value of Money”.<ref>{{Citation |first=John |last=Locke |year=1691 |url=http://www.marxists.org/reference/subject/economics/locke/contents.htm |title=Some Considerations on the consequences of the Lowering of Interest and the Raising of the Value of Money |publisher=Marxists}}.</ref> In it, he refers to supply as ”quantity” and demand as [[Economic rent|”rent”]]: “The price of any commodity rises or falls by the proportion of the number of buyers and sellers,” and “that which regulates the price…[of goods] is nothing else but their quantity in proportion to their rent.”

The [[quantity theory of money]] forms a special case of this general theory. His idea is based on “money answers all things” ([[Ecclesiastes]]) or “rent of money is always sufficient, or more than enough,” and “varies very little…” Locke concludes that, as far as money is concerned, the demand is exclusively regulated by its quantity, regardless of whether the [[demand for money]] is unlimited or constant. He also investigates the determinants of demand and supply. For [[Supply (economics)|supply]], he explains the value of goods as based on their [[scarcity]] and ability to be [[Exchange value|exchanged]] and [[Consumption (economics)|consumed]]. He explains [[demand]] for goods as based on their ability to yield a flow of income. Locke develops an early theory of [[Capital (economics)|capitalisation]], such as land, which has value because “by its constant production of saleable [[Commodity|commodities]] it brings in a certain yearly income.” He considers the demand for money as almost the same as demand for goods or land: it depends on whether money is wanted as [[medium of exchange]]. As a medium of exchange, he states that “money is capable by exchange to procure us the necessaries or conveniences of life,” and for [[loanable funds]], “it comes to be of the same nature with land by yielding a certain yearly income…or interest.”

The [[quantity theory of money]] forms a special case of this general theory. His idea is based on “money answers all things” ([[Ecclesiastes]]) or “rent of money is always sufficient, or more than enough,” and “varies very little…” Locke concludes that, as far as money is concerned, the demand is exclusively regulated by its quantity, regardless of whether the [[demand for money]] is unlimited or constant. He also investigates the determinants of demand and supply. For [[Supply (economics)|supply]], he explains the value of goods as based on their [[scarcity]] and ability to be [[Exchange value|exchanged]] and [[Consumption (economics)|consumed]]. He explains [[demand]] for goods as based on their ability to yield a flow of income. Locke develops an early theory of [[Capital (economics)|capitalisation]], such as land, which has value because “by its constant production of saleable [[Commodity|commodities]] it brings in a certain yearly income.” He considers the demand for money as almost the same as demand for goods or land: it depends on whether money is wanted as [[medium of exchange]]. As a medium of exchange, he states that “money is capable by exchange to procure us the necessaries or conveniences of life,” and for [[loanable funds]], “it comes to be of the same nature with land by yielding a certain yearly income…or interest.”

===Monetary thoughts===

====Monetary thoughts====

Locke distinguishes two functions of money: as a ”counter” to [[Valuation (finance)|measure value]], and as a ”pledge” to lay claim to [[good (economics)|goods]]. He believes that silver and gold, as opposed to [[Banknote|paper money]], are the appropriate currency for international transactions. Silver and gold, he says, are treated to have equal value by all of humanity and can thus be treated as a pledge by anyone, while the value of paper money is only valid under the government which issues it.

Locke distinguishes two functions of money: as a ”counter” to [[Valuation (finance)|measure value]], and as a ”pledge” to lay claim to [[good (economics)|goods]]. He believes that silver and gold, as opposed to [[Banknote|paper money]], are the appropriate currency for international transactions. Silver and gold, he says, are treated to have equal value by all of humanity and can thus be treated as a pledge by anyone, while the value of paper money is only valid under the government which issues it.

He also prepares estimates of the [[cash]] requirements for different economic groups ([[Land tenure|landholders]], labourers, and brokers). In each group he posits that the cash requirements are closely related to the length of the pay period. He argues the brokers—the [[Intermediary|middlemen]]—whose activities enlarge the monetary circuit and whose profits eat into the earnings of labourers and landholders, have a negative influence on both personal and the public economy to which they supposedly contribute.

He also prepares estimates of the [[cash]] requirements for different economic groups ([[Land tenure|landholders]], labourers, and brokers). In each group he posits that the cash requirements are closely related to the length of the pay period. He argues the brokers—the [[Intermediary|middlemen]]—whose activities enlarge the monetary circuit and whose profits eat into the earnings of labourers and landholders, have a negative influence on both personal and the public economy to which they supposedly contribute.

===Theory of value and property===

====Theory of value and property====

Locke uses the concept of ”[[Property (philosophy)|property]]” in both broad and narrow terms: broadly, it covers a wide range of human interests and aspirations; more particularly, it refers to [[Tangible property|material goods]]. He argues that property is a [[Natural rights and legal rights|natural right]] that is derived from [[manual labour|labour]]. In Chapter V of his ”[[Two Treatises of Government|Second Treatise]]”, Locke argues that the individual ownership of goods and property is justified by the labour exerted to produce such goods—”at least where there is enough [land], and as good, left in common for others” (para. 27)—or use property to produce goods beneficial to human society.<ref name=”labortheory”>{{cite journal|last=Vaughn|first=Karen|year=1978|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111019073702/http://mises.org/journals/jls/2_4/2_4_3.pdf|title=John Locke and the Labor Theory of Value|journal=[[Journal of Libertarian Studies]]|volume=2|issue=4|pages=311–26|url=https://mises.org/journals/jls/2_4/2_4_3.pdf|archive-date=19 October 2011}}</ref>

Locke uses the concept of ”[[Property (philosophy)|property]]” in both broad and narrow terms: broadly, it covers a wide range of human interests and aspirations; more particularly, it refers to [[Tangible property|material goods]]. He argues that property is a [[Natural rights and legal rights|natural right]] that is derived from [[manual labour|labour]]. In Chapter V of his ”[[Two Treatises of Government|Second Treatise]]”, Locke argues that the individual ownership of goods and property is justified by the labour exerted to produce such goods—”at least where there is enough [land], and as good, left in common for others” (para. 27)—or use property to produce goods beneficial to human society.<ref name=”labortheory”>{{cite journal|last=Vaughn|first=Karen|year=1978|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111019073702/http://mises.org/journals/jls/2_4/2_4_3.pdf|title=John Locke and the Labor Theory of Value|journal=[[Journal of Libertarian Studies]]|volume=2|issue=4|pages=311–26|url=https://mises.org/journals/jls/2_4/2_4_3.pdf|archive-date=19 October 2011}}</ref>