Page:The Economic Journal Volume 1.djvu/632

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610 THE ECONOMIC JOURNAL a?d formula. He substitutes the ter?n ' transfers of goods' for that, of 'exchange,' and he devotes considerable space to the discussion of Socialisn? and monopolies. Here, as in his remarks on protectionism, he e?deavours to be scrupulously fai? in setting forward the chief argun?ents on either side, and he attempts to afford material for more developed consideration, rather than to exhaust the subject, to suggest and sti?nulate, rather than relieve the student of the necessity, and to rob him of the advantage of independent thought. Parts . and I. are devoted to Consumption and Public Finance. In so,he places, perhaps, of this technical portion of the book, the discussion, even when regarded from the standpoint which the author avowedly adopts, has an appearance of being fragme?tary and inadequate, and opinions which conflict with ordinary recognised views a?e sometimes advanced without being fully justified by reasons explicitly given: but Professor Ely ?nakes a point of referring at the end of each chapter' to books containing a more thorough discussion of the subjects which he has handled ?th compulsory brevity, and his views have the supreme merit of candour where they are not entirely convincing. In Part VIII. he presents some suggestions for study, and indicates some courses of reading? and in the Appendix he provides a nseful bibliography and questions and exercises. Part I., in which he traces the growth, and describes the characteristics of industrial society and the nature of political economy, occupies a large portion of the book, and a some- what fuller account of its contents will, perhaps, furnish a more adequate idea of the character of the work than the remarks and criticisms which we have previously made. Professor Ely commences by showing the connection between political econo,fry and sociology; and he then proceeds to point out that the economic side of life affords material for study which is likely to be ?nore immediately fruitful than that of the wider field of sociology, and that it is the best introduction to the larger science. ' The economic life means briefly,' he states, ' that part of man's life which is concerned with what is commonly called "getting a living."' He next examines certain charac- teristics of this economic life, which in modern times, he urges, is 'chiefly social' and involves the mutual dependence of man on man. It is, he shows, the product of two great factors, land and man. There are stages, he points out, in the development of this life, which may be regarded from the point of view of production or from that of transfers of goods, as we pass from the hunting and fishing to the pastoral, and thence to the agricultural and commercial stages, or fron? truck- economy to money-econo?ny and credit-economy. He then proceeds to investigate the causes of the existence of present econo?nic proble?ns, which he finds in the industrial revolution and its various con- sequences on the one hand, and the now importance of capital, the possibility of improvement, and the prevalence of higher ethical standards on the other. He ?ext examnines some general features of the economy of modern nations in its relation to freedom, to ethics, and to the State. He defines Political Economy ' in its most general