VALUE, in economics, the esteem in which a thing is held, but also, under ordinary commercial conditions, power in exchange. There is no contradiction between these two ideas, because the higher the esteem in which thing is held the greater will be its power in exchange under normal conditions. Under certain abnormal conditions this would not be true. Travelers in a desert who are dying of thirst might esteem water very highly, but if they had nothing to give in exchange for it, water would have very little power in exchange, even if someone came along with a supply of water. However, in the ordinary market, in the ordinary commercial community, many things are available to give in exchange for any commodity that happens to be offered. And if the commodity that is offered is highly esteemed or intensely desired, many things usually will be offered in exchange for it. If it is held in low esteem, few things will be offered in exchange for it.

价值，在经济学中，指对持有东西的尊重，而且在平常的商业条件下也是交换的实力。这两个观点并不矛盾，因为在正常情况下，持有的东西价值愈高，其交换实力就愈大。在某些非正常的情况下，这种情况可能并非如此。在沙漠中因缺水而濒临死亡的旅行者可能非常看重水，但如果他们没有任何可交换水的东西，那么水就没有什么交换实力，即使有人带来了水。然而，在普通的市场中，在平常的商业社区中，许多物品都可以交换碰巧提供的任何商品。如果提供的商品极受重视或非常需要，通常会提供许多物品进行交换。如果物品不受重视，那么进行交换的物品就会很少。

The fact that value in an ordinary commercial community is power in exchange does not mean it is merely a ratio of exchange. Power in exchange is power to command other desirable things in peaceful and voluntary exchange. When things are exchanged, however, they must of necessity be exchanged in some ratio, but the ratio is purely accidental and is not the real essence of value.

事实上，普通商业社区中的价值是一种交换实力并不意味着它仅仅是交换的比率。交换实力在和平与自愿交换中是指挥其它令人向往事物的实力。然而，当交换物品时，它们必须按一定比率交换，但比率纯属是偶然的，并不是真正的价值本质。

Value depends on two things alone: desirability and scarcity. Any material thing that can be transferred will have value if it possesses both these qualities and will have no value if it lacks either of them. However scarce or rare a thing may be, if nobody desires it, of course it will have no value or power in exchange. However desirable a thing may be in itself, if everyone has all they want of it no one will pay a price to get any more.

价值只取决于两件事：欲望和稀缺性。任何可以转让的物质东西，如果它拥有了这两种特性，就会有价值，如果它缺乏了其中一种，就没有价值。一件东西无论怎样稀缺或稀有，如果无人对其产生欲望，当然它就没有价值或交换的实力。一件东西无论其本身怎样令人向往，如果人人都拥有了他们想要的一切，那么就没人会为获得更多而付出代价。

With a given degree of scarcity, the more desirable the object the higher its value; and the less desirable the lower its value. At the same time, with a given degree of desirability, the greater the scarcity of a thing the greater its value; and the less its scarcity the lower its value. That is to say, when everybody has nearly as much as they want they will not be very anxious to get more, and they will not be willing to pay a high price or give much in exchange for an additional quantity. But if it is very scarce, so that everyone would like to have a great deal more than they have, then they will give a great deal in exchange for it.

伴随着一个给定的稀缺性程度，对象愈是理想，其价值就愈高；而对象愈是不理想，其价值就愈低。同时，伴随着一个给定的欲望程度，一件东西的稀缺性愈大，其价值就愈大；而其稀缺性愈小，其价值就愈小。就是説，当人人都拥有了他们想要的东西，他们就不会非常渴望获得更多的东西，他们就不愿为额外的数量付出高价，或进行更多的交换。但是，如果它非常稀缺，那么每个人都想要拥有比他们拥有的更多的东西，接下来他们会为此进行大量的交换。

The reason scarcity makes for high value and abundance for low value is mainly physiological. Wants are satiable. When one has had little food, hunger or the desire for food is intense. When one has had much food, hunger is less intense and gradually approaches or reaches the point of satiety. This is true not only of hunger but of every other human desire—that is, the desire for every other specific form of satisfaction. Even music palls if there is little variety. One becomes weary of looking at the same work of art or at works of art of a given type. Were it not for this principle of satiety, there is no reason for the value of a commodity to diminish as the supply increases. If the tenth apple consumed by a given person furnished as much satisfaction as the first, it follows logically that a supply of apples then times as great would command as high a unit price as for a smaller quantity because of equal demand.

稀缺性导致高价值，充裕导致低价值的原因主要是心理上的。需求是可满足的。当一个人缺少食物时，饥饿感或对食物的欲望则很强烈。当一个人拥有了许多食物，饥饿感则没那么强烈，会逐渐靠近或达到满足点。这不仅适用于饥饿感，而且适用于所有其它的人类欲望---也就是説，这种欲望适用于所有其它满足感的特定形式。如果缺乏多样化，甚至音乐也会乏味。人们观看同一件艺术品或给定形式的艺术品时会变得厌倦。如果不是这种满足感原则，那么商品的价值就没有理由随着供应的增加而减少。如果一个给定的人吃的第十个苹果像第一个苹果一样满意，那么遵循的逻辑就是，因为需求相等，接下来供应的成倍苹果的单价会与少量苹果的单价一样高。

This principle of valuation rests upon physiology and not upon social arrangements. The law of supply and demand is much more powerful than the organization of the market, the type of government, or the organization of society itself. It has its basis in human physiology. Market values and prices are only EXPRESSIONS of this fundamental physiologic law.

这种评价原则取决于生理学，而不取决于社会安排。供给与需求的法则相比市场组织，政府类型，或社会组织本身更加有力。它是人类生理学的基础。市场价值与价格只是这种基础生理学法则的表达。

                                                 T. N. CARVER

                      Author of “Economic Functions of Government”

                                                  T. N.卡弗

                                    《政府的经济职能》的作者

                                                                      2024年3月29日译

（译者注：该词条位列《大美百科全书》1985年版，第27卷，第867页）