The Exchangeable Value of All Commodities

wealth, as Mr. Hobbes says, is power. But the person who either acquires or succeeds to a great fortune does not necessarily acquire or succeed to any political power,. Either civil or military. His fortune may perhaps afford him the means of acquiring both; but the mere possession of that fortune does notnecessarily convey to him either. The exchangeable value of everything must always be precisely equal to the extent of this power which it conveys to its owner. It is more natural therefore to estimate its exchangeable value by the quantity of some other commodity than by that of the labor which it can produce.