Section V.. Value.—Value in Exchange.

Value.—Value In Exchange.

The value in exchange of goods, or the quality which makes them exchangeable against other goods, is based on a combination of their value in use with their cost-value, such as men in their intercourse with one another will make.(79) Without value in use, value in exchange(80) is unthinkable.

But there are many, and even indispensable goods which are not at all susceptible of being exchanged; for instance, the light and heat of the sun, the open sea etc.(81) Other goods, although capable of being exchanged, have no value in exchange, because they exist in superabundance, and may be obtained by everyone, without trouble and without reward; for instance, drinking-water in most places, ice in winter, and wood in the primeval forest.(82) Moreover, the idea of such “free goods” is in great part relative. The water of a river may, for drinking purposes, be “free” goods, and yet, for purposes of irrigation, have great value in exchange. (John Stuart Mill).

But, goods, to obtain value in exchange, must, in addition to their value in use, a value which must be recognized(83) by a certain number of persons, at least, have the capacity of becoming the exclusive property of some one individual, and therefore of being alienated or transferred; and this alienation or transfer must be desired because of the difficulty to become possessed of them in any other way.(84)