Theorie der Volkswirtschaft I Preisbildung und Preisaufbau

[Title Page and Preface]: The front matter and preface of Engländer's work on economic theory. He outlines the book's structure, moving from psychological desires to economic value, price formation, and the synthesis of objective-technical and subjective-social factors in price structures. He acknowledges his intellectual debt to Franz Brentano's philosophy and the Austrian School (Menger, Böhm-Bawerk, Wieser) while asserting his original contributions regarding 'price willingness' (Preiswilligkeit) and the integration of Ricardian objective costs with subjective value theory. [Scope of the Work and Table of Contents]: Engländer defines the scope of the first volume, noting that while money is assumed as a medium, detailed theories of credit, velocity of circulation, capital interest, and international trade are reserved for the second volume. This is followed by a comprehensive table of contents detailing the four main sections: Value and Goods, Price Willingness, Price Formation, and Price Structure. [Section 1: Primary Values and Evils]: An analysis of the psychological foundations of economic action. Engländer distinguishes between primary values (pleasure, knowledge) and primary evils (unpleasure, error). He argues that seeking value and avoiding evil are independent psychological processes, not merely positive and negative signs of the same scale. He discusses the ranking (Rangordnung) of these values, the role of intensity, and how temporal distance affects the perspective of desire without necessarily changing the objective rank of a value. [Section 1: The Nature of Goods and Ranking]: This section defines goods as external objects or services onto which primary values are transferred. Engländer explores the relationship between the ranking of goods and the law of diminishing utility (Gossen's Law). He distinguishes between the psychological decrease in pleasure and the economic ranking of goods, explaining how needs for different types of goods can alternate, jump, or terminate (abbrechen) based on the level of satisfaction already achieved. [Section 1: Economic Value and Marginal Utility]: Engländer defines economic value as the rank assigned to a good during acquisition, identifying it with marginal utility (Grenznutzen). He clarifies that value is not a sum of utilities but the utility of the last unit that can be acquired. The section also covers complementary goods, the distinction between consumer and producer goods (higher-order goods), and the concept of 'imputation' (Wertzurechnung). He critiques the idea of dividing value among production factors, arguing that value as a psychological phenomenon is indivisible. [The Concept of Costs: Real and Unreal Costs]: Engländer defines costs as the sacrifice made to acquire a good, distinguishing between 'echte Kosten' (real costs, such as labor disutility or the sacrifice of an existing good) and 'unechte Kosten' (unreal costs, representing the potential value of an alternative use of resources). He explains that economic action involves comparing the economic value of a goal with these costs, prioritizing the satisfaction of needs based on rank. [Economic Action and the Principle of Highest Efficiency]: This section explores the logic of economic decision-making when dealing with multiple goods and limited resources. Engländer critiques the theory that economic efficiency leads to an equalization of weighted marginal utilities, arguing instead that efficiency is achieved when no unit of cost is spent on a good if it could produce a higher marginal utility elsewhere. He uses examples of a worker producing household items and a farmer bartering eggs to illustrate how individuals prioritize based on rank until resources are exhausted. [Cost Allocation and Success Accounting]: Engländer discusses the classification and attribution of costs within an enterprise, distinguishing between general costs (allgemeine Kosten), series costs (Reihenkosten), and individual costs (Sonderkosten). He argues that for individual economic decisions, only marginal costs (Grenzkosten) and marginal success (Grenzerfolg) are relevant, rather than average costs. He provides a schema comparing success attribution and cost attribution to demonstrate how economic logic applies to the acquisition of production factors. [The Concept of Yield and the Equalization of Returns]: The author defines yield (Ertrag) as the realized advantage of an economic action where the success outweighs the costs. In a monetary economy, this is often expressed as the surplus of money obtained over money spent (interest or rent). Engländer argues that while a subjective equalization of marginal returns is rare due to varying psychological valuations, a tendency toward equalized returns exists in monetary transactions due to competition. [Substitution Value, Substitution Costs, and Subjective Exchange Value]: Engländer critiques the necessity of the terms 'substitution value' and 'subjective exchange value,' arguing they are merely specific applications of the marginal utility principle. He maintains that using these terms often obscures the underlying economic logic of comparing dependent utility with costs. He concludes by defining objective exchange value as the position of a good within the price structure, determined by objective-technical and subjective-social factors. [Supply, Demand, and Types of Goods]: This section defines supply, need (Bedarf), and demand (Nachfrage), distinguishing between full need and effective demand. Engländer differentiates between free goods and economic goods based on the presence of costs. He further categorizes economic goods into cost goods (where supply is flexible at a cost price), goods of given quantity (fixed supply), and goods with increasing or decreasing costs (such as agriculture vs. railways). [The Nature of Price Willingness (Preiswilligkeit)]: Engländer transitions from psychological value and costs in a closed economy to the concept of 'price willingness' (Preiswilligkeit) in a monetary economy. He defines the maximum bid (Höchstgebot) of a buyer as the remaining available wealth after accounting for more important needs, framing money as 'artificial costs' (unechte Kosten) rather than a direct source of utility. [The Price Willingness Paradox (Preiswilligkeitsparadoxon)]: This section introduces the 'price willingness paradox,' explaining why a buyer's maximum bid for a total quantity of goods does not increase proportionally with the number of units. Using examples like auctions and crop destruction (Gregory King's Law), Engländer argues that as quantity increases, the remaining wealth for that specific category decreases because more 'important' goods of other types must be secured first, leading to a sharper decline in the per-unit maximum bid than the increase in quantity. [Relationship Between Economic Value, Price Willingness, and Price]: Engländer explores the incommensurability between psychological economic value and monetary price willingness. He analyzes how the price of one good affects the price willingness for another (substitution and ranking), the pricing of complementary goods (zusammengehörende Güter), and how time preference and future income periods influence current price willingness, touching upon the foundations of interest theory. [Wealth Allocation and Durable Goods]: The author discusses how 'available wealth' is determined for price willingness, especially when income is irregular. He distinguishes between consumption goods and durable goods (Gebrauchsgüter), explaining that for durables, the buyer must calculate across multiple income periods, often utilizing 'auxiliary calculations' like saving or installment plans to ensure no higher-ranking consumption is sacrificed. [Prices Below the Maximum Bid and Demand Shifts]: Engländer analyzes scenarios where the market price is below the buyer's maximum bid (Höchstgebotsgrenze). He explains that price changes within this margin do not necessarily change the quantity demanded of that specific good but instead cause the buyer to adjust consumption of lower-ranked 'marginal goods' (Grenzgüter), effectively shifting the price change's impact onto other parts of the budget. [Price-Quantity Relationships and Cognitive Simplification]: This section details how changes in supply (Anbot) force price adjustments based on the discrete steps of price willingness. Engländer also notes that consumers rarely perform full 'wealth-minus-important-needs' calculations for every purchase; instead, they rely on habits and only re-evaluate their maximum bid for 'marginal goods' (Grenzgüter) when significant price or income changes occur. [Seller Considerations: Real Costs and Labor Supply]: Engländer examines the seller's side, noting that in a specialized economy, most sellers value goods based on 'artificial costs' (what others will pay). However, exceptions exist where 'real costs' (echte Kosten) apply, such as distress sales, agricultural self-sufficiency, and most importantly, the sale of labor. He concludes by linking labor supply to the 'disutility of labor' (Arbeitsunlust), where the wage must outweigh the psychological cost of the final hour worked. [Willingness to Pay for Goods of Higher Order]: This section examines the willingness to pay for production goods (goods of higher order). It distinguishes between self-sufficient households, where the value of production goods equals the value of the resulting consumer goods, and specialized production economies. In the latter, the producer's willingness to pay for inputs is necessarily lower than the expected price of the final product, governed by principles of marginal productivity and marginal cost attribution. This price differential forms the basis for the theory of capital interest. [Section Three: Price Formation]: Heading for the third section of the work, focusing on the actual formation of prices in the market. [Käufer gleicher allgemeiner Preiswilligkeit]: This section examines how market prices are formed when all buyers possess identical wealth and value rankings. Engländer establishes the conditions for a 'rest price' (Ruhepreis), arguing that prices must fall if supply exceeds demand and rise if there is unsatisfied demand at a higher price willingness. He demonstrates that when goods are perfectly divisible among identical buyers, a price range exists between an upper limit (the buyer's maximum bid for their share) and a lower limit (the bid for one additional unit). He also explores the 'necessary price' that arises when goods cannot be divided equally, forcing some buyers to receive one unit more than others, which collapses the price range into a single point. [Käufer verschiedener allgemeiner Preiswilligkeit]: Engländer shifts the analysis to a more realistic market composed of buyers with varying levels of wealth and different value priorities. He defines the upper price limit as the lowest 'specific price willingness' required to clear the total supply. The text introduces the concept of 'marginal buyer groups' (Grenzkäuferschichten), typically defined by the social stratification of wealth. He identifies three potential lower price limits: the marginal buyer's bid for an additional unit, the next-highest bid of a buyer already in the market for an additional unit, and the bid of the first excluded buyer. The section concludes by analyzing how changes in supply, price, or underlying wealth affect market equilibrium and the relationship between price and marginal utility across different social strata. [Erklärungsbereich des Preisbildungsvorganges]: This transitional section critiques the limits of explaining the entire economic price structure solely through the psychological process of price formation on a single market. Engländer argues that while market process analysis is essential, it fails as a total explanation because it treats supply as fixed, ignores how prices of 'higher-order' (capital) goods are derived, and relies on the prices of other goods being already known. He concludes that a comprehensive theory must move beyond individual market mechanics to explain the 'price structure' (Preisaufbau) as a whole. [Der Preisaufbau: Allgemeines und Der objektiv-technische Preisaufbau]: Engländer introduces the fourth major section of the work, focusing on the 'Price Structure' (Preisaufbau). He defines the objective as determining the relative price ratios between all goods rather than absolute prices. He explicitly assumes a money-based economy rather than barter, treating the money supply as a given factor. He outlines two competing explanatory paths: the 'objective-technical' approach, based on production facts, and the 'subjective-social' approach, based on individual psychology and income distribution. The segment ends at the beginning of the chapter on the objective-technical approach. [Pure Labor Products and the Objective-Technical Price Structure]: Engländer examines the formation of prices in a hypothetical economy where goods are produced solely by homogeneous labor. He argues that while the ratio of labor required per unit determines the persistent (natural) price ratio, the absolute money prices are determined by the total labor quantity and the monetary equation. He introduces the subjective-social element, noting that the total amount of labor performed is determined by the individual's psychological balance between the utility of goods and the disutility of labor. [Labor and Nature: Differential Fertility and Rent]: This section introduces land as a limited resource with varying fertility. Engländer explains that the price ratio of agricultural goods is determined by the labor required on the least fertile land still in use (marginal costs). He defines rent as the 'virtual labor' saved on better quality land, which is paid to the landowner. The distribution of social product between workers and landowners is thus determined by the ratio of actual labor performed to the virtual labor saved by superior land quality. [Subjective-Social Influence on Marginal Costs and Land Use]: Engländer analyzes how subjective demand influences the objective-technical price structure when land is involved. Unlike pure labor products, the demand for agricultural goods determines which marginal land is cultivated, thereby shifting the labor costs and the resulting price ratios. He provides a mathematical proof showing how different crops compete for the same land based on their labor intensity and fertility, concluding that the boundary of cultivation for labor-intensive goods is determined by where their rent equals that of less intensive goods. [Abnehmender Bodenertrag und Preisaufbau]: Engländer analyzes the law of diminishing returns (abnehmender Bodenertrag) and its impact on price formation and land rent. He demonstrates that under the assumption of continuous diminishing returns, the price of agricultural goods is determined by the marginal labor costs of the last unit produced. He introduces a dual perspective: viewing the law of diminishing returns as a law of increasing labor yield when land area increases, leading to a formula where land rent equals the difference between the maximum labor required (at the margin) and actual labor expended. The section also explores how subjective-social demand determines the intensity of cultivation and how rent equalizes across different types of crops on identical soil. [Die örtliche Lage und Beförderungskosten]: This section examines the influence of spatial location and transportation costs on price structure and land rent, building on models similar to von Thünen's isolated state. Engländer distinguishes between real wages (which must equalize across space to ensure labor mobility) and nominal wages (which vary based on local prices of agricultural and urban goods). He introduces the concepts of 'Kornanteil' (portion of wages spent on local agricultural goods) and 'Marktanteil' (portion spent on urban goods). The analysis shows that land closer to the consumption center (the city) generates a 'location rent' (Lagerente) derived from saved transportation labor and differences in the nominal cost of living. [Intensitätsarten und räumliche Wettbewerbsgrenzen]: Engländer refines the theory of spatial intensity by distinguishing between three types: quantity intensity (Mengenintensität), quality intensity (Qualitätsintensität), and weight-loss intensity (Gewichtsverlustintensität). He argues that while quantity intensity decreases with distance from the city, quality intensity is largely independent of location unless nominal wages vary significantly. Weight-loss intensity (processing goods to reduce transport weight) increases with distance. The section concludes by analyzing the competition between multiple urban centers, defining the boundaries of their respective supply and sales areas (Bezugs- und Absatzgebiete) using hyperbolic functions based on price differentials and freight rates. [Limits of the Objective-Technical Price Structure and the Role of Capital]: Engländer examines whether the 'third factor of production,' capital, can be integrated into the objective-technical price structure. He discusses various justifications for capital interest, including the Marxist concept of surplus value (Mehrwert), technical productivity, and abstinence. He argues that while capital interest modifies the price structure based on the duration of capital investment, it does not destroy the logical consistency of the labor-based system. However, he acknowledges that the assumption of homogeneous labor and steady diminishing returns limits the direct applicability of this model to reality. [The Subjective-Social Price Structure: Equal Income and Discrete Needs]: This section introduces the subjective-social price structure, starting with the simplest case: multiple goods with discrete needs and equal income among buyers. Engländer argues that under these conditions, specific price ratios are mathematically underdetermined, resulting in a range of possible solutions rather than a single equilibrium price. He demonstrates that there is no necessary direct link between higher marginal utility and a higher price in this simplified model, as the price is constrained only by the total income and the quantities available. [Price Determination with Varying Incomes and Subjective Valuations]: Engländer explores how varying income levels and different subjective valuations among buyers narrow the range of possible price ratios. By using systems of equations representing different income strata, he shows that certain price combinations become psychologically or economically impossible if they contradict the rank-ordering of needs. He concludes that while a perfect parallel between marginal utility and price is rare, the combination of subjective ranking and social income distribution can lead to a unique, determined price structure in a frictionless economy. [Mutual Substitutability of Goods and the Subjective-Social Price Structure]: This section examines how the mutual substitutability of different types of goods affects the subjective-social price structure. Engländer argues that because the ratio of substitution (Grenzaufwiegeverhältnis) changes based on the quantities possessed, it does not uniquely determine prices but rather establishes upper and lower bounds within which prices can fluctuate. He provides mathematical examples using bread and meat to demonstrate how different income layers and their respective substitution thresholds limit the range of possible price ratios. [Substitution with Multiple Goods and the Concept of 'Abwechsel' (Alternation)]: The author extends the theory of substitution to a plurality of goods and introduces the concept of 'Abwechsel' (alternation of needs), where different goods hold the same rank. He concludes that these factors serve to exclude mathematically possible solutions that are psychologically or economically impossible, thereby narrowing the potential price range. [Phenomena of Movement: Changes in Quantity and Income]: Engländer analyzes how changes in the quantities of goods or in the income levels of buyers affect the price structure. He identifies four possible outcomes for price changes when supply increases, noting that while some outcomes are mathematically possible, they are empirically unlikely. He critiques the absolute validity of the law of supply and demand as a dynamic law, suggesting it is better understood as a law of high probability within a stable price structure. [Limits of the Subjective-Social Explanation and the Need for Synthesis]: This section identifies the limitations of a purely subjective-social explanation of prices, particularly its inability to account for the prices of production goods (Erzeugungsgüter) when multiple factors are involved in creating a single consumer good. Engländer distinguishes between the objective-technical (causal) and subjective-social (functional) approaches, arguing that a complete theory of price requires the unification of both methods to fill their respective gaps. [Unification of Objective-Technical and Subjective-Social Price Structures]: Engländer demonstrates how to unify the objective-technical and subjective-social theories. By treating consumer goods as bundles of their underlying production factors, the number of unknowns in price equations can be reduced. This synthesis allows for a more realistic model that accounts for different types of labor and natural resources without relying on the unrealistic assumptions of a single labor type or the universal law of diminishing returns. [Ergänzungen am vereinigten Preisaufbau: Technische Ersetzbarkeit und Bewegungserscheinungen]: Engländer discusses technical substitutions between factors of production (labor and land) and how they influence price ratios. He distinguishes between fixed substitution ratios and variable marginal substitutability, explaining how these factors constrain price equations and impact economic movement when quantities of production goods or consumer preferences change. [Einfluss von Technik, Wertverhalten und Einkommen auf den Preisaufbau]: This section examines how changes in technology, subjective value rankings, and income distribution affect the price structure. Engländer addresses the potential criticism of circular reasoning (explaining prices through incomes which are themselves derived from prices), arguing that income acts as a historical link between successive price states rather than a logical circle. [Zurechnung und Grenzerfolgszurechnung im Preisaufbau]: The author analyzes the relationship between price formation and the theory of imputation (Zurechnung). He rejects the idea that factor prices are direct expressions of psychological value, focusing instead on objective success imputation (Gesamtzurechnung vs. Grenzzurechnung) and demonstrating the limits of marginal productivity theory, especially in cases of increasing returns. [Monopolpreise und die Gleichheit der Preise für Güter gleicher Art]: Engländer defines monopoly as the ability to control supply to achieve the most favorable price, explicitly distinguishing ground rent from monopoly profit. He explains the 'law of one price' as an empirical result of competition and discusses exceptions such as quantity discounts and price discrimination in both buying and selling monopolies. [Arbeitseinkommen, Grundrente und Kapitalzins im vereinigten Preisaufbau]: The concluding section integrates labor income, ground rent, and interest into the unified price model. Engländer explains rent as a scarcity phenomenon (Seltenheitsrente) supplemented by differential advantages. He notes the difficulty of deriving interest solely from price equations unless non-capitalist production exists alongside capitalist production, pointing toward the role of money and capital in the second volume. [Anhang: Die Wirtschaftstheorie der Gegenwart (Verlagsanzeige)]: A detailed advertisement and overview of the multi-volume series 'Die Wirtschaftstheorie der Gegenwart' edited by Hans Mayer. It lists contributors and topics for four volumes, covering global research, value, price, production, money, credit, income distribution, business cycles, and socialism.