Eugen von Böhm-Bawerk was Mises’s great teacher. Here is a very early statement (1891) on the cost controversy, published in English. It demonstrates why Böhm-Bawerk remains a standard-bearer of the Austrian tradition. FULL ARTICLE by Eugen von Böhm-Bawerk
Source link: http://archive.mises.org/13798/the-relation-of-cost-to-value/
The Relation of Cost to Value
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The theory of ‘final utility’ explains costs. It is immediately applicable in showing the futility of government intervention, such as establishing a minimum wage or subsidizing a failing enterprise. The value of labor or say any commodity is not changed by laws or regulations, for that does not change the overall supply or demand. Consequently intervention is counterproductive for helping labor or business.
On a lighter vein the fallacy is one like .. Instead of taking the bull by the horn..taking it by the tail’ gets to be mistakenly chosen as the ‘moderate mode’ !!
More seriously speaking — Cost or the production cost of the material in question — if it overlooks the human willed self actualization value of the production activity and human utility value of the product — is undoubtedly at the cost of humans in general and that is no Eco-political production by any definition.
vedapushpa
social anthropologist
Bangalore – India
Hi Vedapushpa!
What is “human willed self actualization value “?
Wow, this just made me remember that until not too long ago we actually had an austrian economist on the legal tender of one of the most socialist countries in Europe.
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