Value, Distribution and Measurement

Abstract

As we shall see the measurement of capital is in one sense a new problem and in another a very, very old one. It is also in one sense the same problem as that of measuring all output in the economic system, and in another sense a problem associated with a particular approach to economics. In particular it is associated with the way value, distribution and time are explained. Thus we will find that the approach to measurement in general and to capital measurement in particular will differ between the classical and neoclassical theory just as their explanations of value and distribution differ. The two theories thus approach measurement in different ways and for different purposes.