Note 1121 — Chapter I · : THE HEDONISTS

Value itself, the pivot of Classical economics, is simply a link in exchange with the new school, and thus it loses all its subjectivity; and since it is not a thing at all, but merely an expression, it would be ridiculous to struggle to find its cause, foundation, or nature, as the older writers did. This is why Jevons proposed to banish the word altogether and to employ the term “ratio of exchange” instead. And Aupetit insists that “the expression ‘value’ is to-day devoid of content … and seems doomed to disappear from the scientific vocabulary altogether. There is no great harm in omitting this parasitical element as we have done, and in treating economic equilibrium as an entity without ever employing the term ‘value.’” (Théorie de la Monnaie, p. 85.)