_Value of Money in the Seventeenth Century_ (Vol. ix. p. 375.).--Say, in
his _Political Economy_ (Prinsep's translation, i. 413.), has furnished a
comparative statement, the result of which is, that the _setier_ of wheat,
whose relative value to other commodities has varied little from 1520 down
to the present time, has undergone great fluctuations, being worth--
A. D. 1520 512 gr. of pure silver.
A. D. 1536 1063 ditto.
A. D. 1602 2060 ditto.
A. D. 1789 2012 ditto.
Whence it may be inferred that 1000l. in 1640, 1660, and 1680 did not vary
much from its value at the present time, _such value being measured in
silver_. But as the value of all commodities resolves itself ultimately
into the cost of labour, the rate of wages at these dates, in the
particular country or part of a country, must be taken as the only safe
criterion.
Thus, if labour were 20d. per diem in 1640, and is 40d. at this time,
1000_l_. in 1640 is equivalent to 500l. (only half as much) now. But, on
the contrary, as the cost of production of numerous articles by machinery,
&c. has been _by so much_ reduced, the power of purchase now, as compared
with 1640, of 1000l., is _by so much_ increased. The article itself must
determine by how much. The question put by C. H. is too general to admit of
a positive solution; but should he specify the commodity and place of
investment in the seventeenth century and to-day of the 1000l., our
statistics might still be at fault, and deny us even a proximate
determination of his inquiry. Even his 1000l., which he may consider a
fixed measure of value, or _punctum comparationis_, is varying in value
(=power of purchase) daily, even hourly, as regards almost every
exchangeable product. Tooke _On Prices_ is a first-rate authority on this
subject.