Tuesday 14 April 2020

"One cannot Sell without at the same instant and in the same act Buying, nor Buy anything without simultaneously Selling something else..." #QotD


"A market for Products is products in Market. The fundamental thus tersely expressed may be formulated more at length in this way: One cannot Sell without at the same instant and in the same act Buying, nor Buy anything without simultaneously Selling something else; because in Buying one pays for what he buys, which is Selling, and in Selling one must take pay for what is sold, which is Buying. As these universal actions among men are always voluntary, there must be also an universal motive leading up to them; this motive on the part of both parties to each and every Sale can be no other than the mutual satisfaction derivable to both; the inference, accordingly, is easy and invincible, that governmental restrictions on Sales, or prohibitions of them, must lessen the satisfactions and retard the progress of mankind."
~ Arthur Latham Perry, from his best-selling Principles of Political Economy (1891)

1 comment:

And/orsum said...

We Export to pay for our Imports. This is an extension of the above. The number of comments from loyal National types who want a return to Muldoonist fortress NZ is saddening but not surprising. Somehow believing that NZ can produce all it needs is staggering in its ignorance.
This older FEE article is a handy read The Chinese Only Export so They Can Buy Stuff Too