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Jevons on measurement: A comment

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  17 August 2016

Bert Mosselmans
Bert Mosselmans*
Affiliation:
Free University of Brussels (VUB)
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Extract

Pascal Revoy [1997] discusses the measures in Jevons' and Walras' theories, and argues that there is a difference in the methods used by these two authors. This comment does not concern the comparison between Jevons and Walras; it is restricted to Jevons' contribution only because we think that his theory of value is misrepresented in Revoy's article. Revoy argues that Jevons' theory of value results from the theory of exchange, and that it is a relative theory of value: “la valeur d'un bien ne dépend pas de la quantité de travail nécessaire à sa production, mais de l'importance des besoins qu'il permet de satisfaire” (p. 293). There arises a problem in this theory, because “les nombres ne sont plus rapportés à une dimension intrinsèque des biens ou à une ‘masse économique’” Revoy argues that Jevons continues by defining and measuring value in the same operation. We argue that this misrepresentation of Jevons' thought results from a superficial analogy between Jevons' theory of number and his theory of exchange.

Type
Controverses
Information
Recherches Économiques de Louvain/ Louvain Economic Review , Volume 64 , Issue 3 , 1998 , pp. 247 - 351
Copyright
Copyright © Université catholique de Louvain, Institut de recherches économiques et sociales 1998 

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References

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