Wealth

Abstract

What is wealth? Mr. Mill has held that it is no part or no necessity of the science of P.E. to enter into definitions of metaphysical nicety where the ideas suggested by the term are already as determined as practical purposes require. And he thinks, as you will find on reading the Preliminary remarks, that everyone has a notion sufficiently correct for common purpose of what is meant by wealth.¹ But it may be shown, and perhaps I shall show you on a future day, that he himself takes the term wealth in at least four inconsistent or varying senses. Sometimes it is with him, what can be bought and sold, which would include labour, service of all kinds:— the very intellect of a man can be bought — e.g. to pay a fee to a barrister. At other times it is what can be accumulated. At other times it is the material product of the earth. We will go more fully at some other time into these definitions, but I think it best now to take the definition of Senior, because that is as accurate as circumstances will allow. You remember that Senior says that P.E. is the science which treats of the nature, production and distribution of wealth. Then by wealth, he says, we apprehend “all those things, and those things only which are transferable, which are limited in supply, and are directly or indirectly productive of pleasure or preventive of pain”² — three different qualities of wealth. This is the most clear definition I know in mental science.