Locke's notion of property was combined with Jeremy Bentham's utility theory, whence comes the assumption of a representative agent rationally pursuing maximum utility as the "free individual".
BTW, in the history of Western thought, Locke is considered second rate at best, and Bentham, third rate. Locke is remembered not for the profundity of this thought, but for the role he played in the context of his time and his influence on the future through the political revolutions that followed.
Econospeak
"Of Property" and the Mercantilist Fallacy
Sandwichman
(h/t Dan Crawford at Angry Bear)
1 comment:
"Locke was a staunch metallist who insisted on the intrinsic value of Money as represented by its weight and fineness. This is not some incidental biographical trivia. Locke's well documented views on Money were decisive in the monetary reform and re-minting of British coinage in the 1690s.
According to Locke, it was not the absolute quantity of Gold and Silver a nation held that determined its wealth but the proportion of Gold and Silver it held relative to the holdings of the rest of the world:
"Riches do not consist in having more Gold and Silver, but in having more in proportion, than the rest of the World, or than our Neighbours, whereby we are enabled to procure to our selves a greater Plenty of the Conveniencies of Life than comes within the reach of Neighbouring kingdoms and States, who, sharing the Gold and Silver of the World in a less proportion, want the means of Plenty and Power, and so are Poorer."
A zero-sum game. "
He was a metal-lover Tom...
rsp,
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