21 AUGUST 1920, Page 12

VALUE AND PRICE.

[To THE EDITOR OF TEE " SPECTLTOR "1 SIR,—With reference to the Karl Mnrxian theories, it seems to me fairly obvious that if we define the " value" of anything to be the value of the work put into it, we cannot logically say that the value can vary in any way under any extraneous influence such as " demand." The fact is the difficulty arises from a careless use of words. " Value" and " price" are not the same thing by any means. Value is constant, price varies. We might say that the price of a thing fluctuates around the value, it may be more or less according to circumstances, vary- ing from time to time in sympathy with variations in demand and supply. Another cause of trouble is the confusion between " work " and " labour." It is certainly not true to say that the value of a thing is measured by " labour." It is no doubt measured by " work,' but the term work includes a lot besides