"Cost the limit of price" was a maxim coined by

Josiah Warren Josiah Warren (; 1798–1874) was an American utopian socialist, American individualist anarchist, individualist philosopher, polymath, social reformer, inventor, musician, printer and author. He is regarded by anarchist historians like Jam ...

, indicating a (prescriptive) version of the labor theory of value. Warren maintained that the

just Just or JUST may refer to: __NOTOC__ People * Just (surname) * Just (given name) Arts and entertainment * ''Just'', a 1998 album by Dave Lindholm * "Just" (song), a song by Radiohead * "Just", a song from the album '' Lost and Found'' by Mudvayn ...

compensation for labor (or for its product) could only be an equivalent amount of labor (or a product embodying an equivalent amount).In ''Equitable Commerce'', Warren writes, "If a priest is required to get a soul out of purgatory, he sets his price according to the value which the relatives set upon his prayers, instead of their cost to the priest. This, again, is cannibalism. The same amount of labor equally disagreeable, with equal wear and tear, performed by his customers, would be a just remuneration Thus,

profit Profit may refer to: Business and law * Profit (accounting), the difference between the purchase price and the costs of bringing to market * Profit (economics), normal profit and economic profit * Profit (real property), a nonpossessory inter ...

rent Rent may refer to: Economics *Renting, an agreement where a payment is made for the temporary use of a good, service or property *Economic rent, any payment in excess of the cost of production *Rent-seeking, attempting to increase one's share of e ...

, and

interest In finance and economics, interest is payment from a borrower or deposit-taking financial institution to a lender or depositor of an amount above repayment of the principal sum (that is, the amount borrowed), at a particular rate. It is distin ...

were considered unjust economic arrangements. As Samuel Edward Konkin III put it, "the labor theory of value recognizes no distinction between profit and plunder."Wendy McElroy,
Individualist Anarchism vs. "Libertarianism" and Anarchocommunism
" in the ''New Libertarian'', issue #12, October, 1984. In keeping with the tradition of

Adam Smith Adam Smith (baptized 1723 – 17 July 1790) was a Scottish economist and philosopher who was a pioneer in the thinking of political economy and key figure during the Scottish Enlightenment. Seen by some as "The Father of Economics"——� ...

's ''

The Wealth of Nations ''An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations'', generally referred to by its shortened title ''The Wealth of Nations'', is the '' magnum opus'' of the Scottish economist and moral philosopher Adam Smith. First published in ...

'', the "cost" of labor is considered to be the subjective cost; i.e., the amount of suffering involved in it.

Development

The principle was set forth in Warren's ''Equitable Commerce'' (among other writings) and has been called a "mainstay of 19th century individualist anarchism". It was further advocated and popularized by Benjamin Tucker in his individualist anarchist periodical ''Liberty'', and in his books. Tucker explained there are two kinds of Socialisms, one authoritarian (ie. Marx) and one libertarian (Proudhon and Warren), yet what both schools of Socialism have in common is the labor theory of value. Tucker explained Warren's views as so: Warren put his principle into practice in 1827 by establishing an experimental "equity store", called the Cincinnati Time Store, where trade was facilitated by notes backed by a promise to perform labor. This scheme was exactly that advocated by

Pierre Proudhon Pierre-Joseph Proudhon (, , ; 15 January 1809, Besançon – 19 January 1865, Paris) was a French socialist,Landauer, Carl; Landauer, Hilde Stein; Valkenier, Elizabeth Kridl (1979) 959 "The Three Anticapitalistic Movements". ''European Soci ...

some years later under the name '' mutuellisme''; however, it is believed that Proudhon developed his ideas independently.

Peter Kropotkin Pyotr Alexeyevich Kropotkin (; russian: link=no, Пётр Алексе́евич Кропо́ткин ; 9 December 1842 – 8 February 1921) was a Russian anarchist, socialist, revolutionary, historian, scientist, philosopher, and activist ...

,
Anarchism
, ''

Encyclopædia Britannica The (Latin for "British Encyclopædia") is a general knowledge English-language encyclopaedia. It is published by Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.; the company has existed since the 18th century, although it has changed ownership various t ...

'', 1910

References

{{Anarchism Mutualism (economic theory) Anarchist theory Theory of value (economics) Corporate conduct

Development

See also

References