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Though she prefers that her name should not appear on the title-page, my wife has a share in this Volume also. For in writing it, and in writing the Principles, I have been aided and advised by her at every stage of the MSS. and the proofs; and thus the pages which are now submitted to the reader are indebted twice over to her suggestions, her judgment and her care.

Dr Keynes, Mr John Burnett and Mr J. S. Cree have read the proofs of the Chapter on Trade-Unions, and have given me helpful advice with regard to it from three different points. of view.

18 February, 1892.

The changes in this edition follow those made in the third edition of my Principles. Book I. Ch. iv. and v. and Book III. Ch. vI. have been rewritten in order to make more clear how closely the economist adheres in substance to the methods of inference and judgment of ordinary life; and how thorough are the harmony and the mutual dependence between the analytical and the historical methods of economic study. In Book II., Ch. iv. and v. have been thrown together to make a new Chapter IV.; the old definition of Capital regarded from the point of view of the business man is retained; but Capital is defined from the general point of view as wealth which yields "income" in forms that are admitted in the broader use of the term in the market place. Book VI. Ch. 1. and II. have been recast, with further explanations, and a fuller rehearsal of the chief results obtained in the earlier Books.

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CONTENTS.

[Italics are used to give references to definitions of technical terms.]

BOOK I.

PRELIMINARY SURVEY.

Chapter I. Introduction. § 1. Economics is a study of wealth, and a part of the study of man. § 2. Urgency of the problem of poverty. § 3. Economics is a science of recent growth. § 4. Characteristics of modern business. Free Industry and Enterprise. § 5. Preliminary account of value

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pp. 1-9 Chapter II. The Growth of Free Industry and Enterprise. § 1. Early civilizations. Influence of climate and of custom. § 2. The Middle Ages. Free towns. § 3. New forces promoting freedom. pp. 10-13 Chapter III. The Growth of Free Industry and Enterprise continued. § 1. Englishmen early developed a faculty for organized action. § 2. Influence of the Reformation. § 3. Beginnings of modern forms of business management. § 4. Rise of the factory system. The new organization accompanied by great evils. §§ 5, 6. Many of these were due to the pressure of war, taxes and bad harvests; and competition was seen at its worst. But now with the increase of knowledge and wealth we should seek to restrain its evil and to retain its good influences

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pp. 14-25

§ 1. Origin of

§ 2.

Chapter IV. The Growth of Economic Science.
modern Economics. Early regulation of trade.
Adam Smith. § 3. Ricardo and his followers. § 4.
Economics

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The Physiocrats. Mill and modern pp. 26-32

Chapter V. The Scope of Economics. § 1. Economics as a social science. §§ 2-4. Chiefly concerned with motives that are measurable, but not exclusively selfish. Difficulties of measurement. § 5. The desire for money is the result of many various motives. Motives to collective action. § 6. Economics deals mainly with one side of life, but not with the life of fictitious beings

pp. 33-41 Chapter VI. Methods of Study. Nature of Economic Law. §§ 1, 3. Induction and deduction are inseparable. Neither reasoning alone nor observation alone is of much service. § 4. Uses of the machinery of science. §§ 5, 6. Social Law. Economic Law. Normal. The Action of a Law Chapter VII. Summary and Conclusion. § 1. Order of economic inquiries. Relation of science to practice. § 2. Questions to be investigated. § 3. Practical issues lying partly within the range of Economics

pp. 42-48

pp. 49-53

BOOK II.

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monotony of life. 84. Specialized skill and specialized machinery com-
pared. External and Internal economies

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pp. 168-176

Chapter X. Industrial Organization, continued. The Concentra-

tion of Specialized Industries in Particular Localities. § 1.

Primitive forms of localized industries; their various origins. § 2. Ad-

vantages of localized industries; hereditary skill, subsidiary trades, spe-

cialized machinery, local market for skill. Their disadvantages. Move-

ments of English industries

pp. 177-181

Chapter XI. Industrial Organization, continued. Production on

a large scale. §§ 1, 2. Advantages of a large producer as to economy

of material, specialization of and improvements in machinery, buying and

selling; specialized skill, especially in matters of management, but the

small producer makes many detailed savings

pp. 182-187

Chapter XII. Industrial Organization, continued. Business

Management. § 1. Various forms of business management classified

with reference to the tasks of undertaking risks and of superintendence.

§ 2. Faculties required in the ideal manufacturer. § 3. Hereditary

businesses, why they are not more common. § 4. Private partnerships.

§ 5. Joint-stock companies. Government undertakings. § 6. Co-opera-

tion. Profit Sharing. § 7. The rise of the working man hindered by

his want of capital and even more by the growing complexity of business.

§ 8. Adjustment of capital to business ability. Net and Gross Earnings

of Management

pp. 188-204

Chapter XIII. Conclusion. The Law of Increasing in Relation

to that of Diminishing Return. § 1. Relation of the later chap-

ters of this Book to the earlier. A Representative Firm. The Laws of

Increasing and Constant Return. § 2. Conditions under which an

increase of numbers leads to a more than proportionate increase of

collective efficiency

pp. 205-203

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