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The Concept of the Just Price: Theory and Economic Policy

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  03 February 2011

Raymond de Roover
Raymond de Roover
Affiliation:
Boston College
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Extract

In The concept view of many economists the just price is a nebulous concept invented by pious monks who knew nothing of business or economics and were blissfully unaware of market mechanisms. It is true that certain writers, Catholics and non-Catholics alike, have done their best to accredit this fairy tale and to propagate the notion that the just price, instead of being set by the allegedly blind and unconscionable forces of the market, was determined by criteria of fairness without regard to the elements of supply and demand or at least with the purpose of eliminating the evils of unrestrained competition.

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Articles
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The Journal of Economic History , Volume 18 , Issue 4 , December 1958 , pp. 418 - 434
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Copyright © The Economic History Association 1958

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References

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25 San Bernardino of Siena, De evangelio aeterno, sermon 35, art. 2, cap. 2, and sermon 33, art. 2, cap. 7, part 2, §5, in his Opera omnia, IV (Florence-Quaracchi: St. Bonaventure Press, 1956), 157–58, 197.Google ScholarCf. Hünermann, Franz Josef, Die wirtschaftsethischen Predigten des hl. Bernardin von Siena (doct. diss., Münster; Kempen-Niederrhein: Thomas Druckerei, 1939), pp. 80 ffGoogle Scholar.

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40 Corpus juris civilis, Digest, XXXV, 2, 63Google Scholar. The text really refers to a slave whose father is a freeman; it states that the slave's owner cannot charge more than the market price if the father wants to buy and adopt his offspring. In the Middle Ages this text was stretched to cover all cases of price discrimination.

41 Bernardino, De evangelic, sermon 33, art. 2, cap. 7, part 1, §5, in Opera omnia, IV, 153.Google ScholarCf. Höffner, Joseph, Wirtschaftsethik und Monopole im fünfzehnten und sechzehnten Jahrhundert (Jena: Gustav Fischer, 1941), pp. 53, 135–56Google Scholar.

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48 Social Control of Business, p. 23.

50 “Ad hoc ut maior copia victualium in civitate habeatur,”: quoted from a Florentine statute by Sapori, Studi, I, 294.

51 Pirenne, Henri, “Les anciennes democraties des Pays-Bas,” in Les villes et les institutions urbaines (6th ed.; 2 vols.; Paris; Felix Alcan, 1939), I, 196–99Google Scholar; idem, “Le consommateur au moyen âge,” Histoire economique de I'Occident medieval (Bruges: Desclee de Brouwer, 1951), pp. 532–34Google Scholar.

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53 In German the terms are Aufkftuj, Vorkauj, and Wiederhfluj. Schneider, Jean, “Les villes allemandes,” La ville, II, 432–33Google Scholar. It was not always possible to eliminate middlemen entirely.

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56 This statement is fully supported by statistical data. See, for example, Verlinden, Charles, Craeybeckx, J., and Scholliers, E., “Mouvements des prix et des salaires en Belgique au XVIesiecle,” Annales (Economies, Sociétés, Civilisations), X (1955), 173–98CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

57 An excellent monograph provided with a valuable bibliography is the following: Peyer, Hans Conrad, Zur Getreidepolitik oberitalienischer Städte im IJ. Jahrhundert (Vienna: Univer-sum, 1950)Google Scholar. Other studies of the same kind are: Rundstedt, H. G. von, Die Regelung des Getreidehandels in den Städten Sudwestdeutschlands und der deutschen Schweiz im späteren Mittelalter und im Beginn der Neuzeit (Stuttgart: W. Kohlhammer, 1930) and L.Google Scholar, Klaiber, Beiträge zur Wirtschaftspolitik oberschwäbischer Reichsstädte im ausgehenden Mittelalter (Stuttgart: Kohlhammer, 1927)Google Scholar.

58 Examples abound. For Belgium, see , Verlindenet al., art. cited in n. 56, above, p. 185Google Scholar; for Germany, see , Klaiber, Beiträge, p. 62Google Scholar; for France, see Fagniez, Gustave, Documents relatifs à I'histoire de I'industrie et du commerce en France, (2 vols.; Paris: Alphonse Picard, 1898-1900), II, 291, No. 164Google Scholar; for England, , Ashley, English Economic History, I, Part I, 188–89Google Scholar; for Italy, , Peyer, Zur Getreidepolitik., p. 145Google Scholar.

69 Example in Basel during the fifteenth century: Bruder, Hermann, Die Lebensmittelpolitik der Stadt Basel im Mittelalter (Achern im Breisgau, 1909), p. 3Google Scholar.

60 This is a reference to the Magazinpolitik, or ever-normal granary, initiated by Frederick William I, King in Prussia (1713–40) and continued by his son and successor, Frederick the Great (1740-86): R. de Roover, “Monopoly Theory,” p. 520. In France beginnings were made with the same policy but did not produce tangible results: Hamilton, Earl J., “Origin and Growth of the National Debt in France and England,” Studi in onore di Gino Luzzatto (4 vols.; Milan: A. Giuffri, 1950), II, 249Google Scholar.

61 Fiumi, Enrico, “Sui rapporti economici tra citta e contado nell'eta comunale,” Archivio storico italiano, CXIV (1956), 58Google Scholar.

62 Summa theologica (Verona, 1740), Part II, tit. 1 (De avaritia), cap. 17, §§7, 8. The truck system existed also in Lucca (1419):Google ScholarSercambi, Giovanni, Croniche, ed. Bongi, Salvatore, III (Lucca, 1892), 252. It was found even in Flanders:Google ScholarPirenne, Henri, Histoire de Belgique, I (5th rev. ed.; Brussels: M. Lamertin, 1929), 282Google Scholar.

63 Wycliffe, John, The Grete Sentence of Curs Expounded, inGoogle ScholarArnold, Thomas, ed., Select English Works of Wyclif, III (Oxford, 1871), 333.Google ScholarCf. , Tawney, Religion and Capitalism, pp. 27, 293Google Scholar.

64 Ross, J. B. and McLaughlin, Mary M., eds., The Portable Medieval Reader (New York: Viking Press, 1949), pp. 314–15Google Scholar.

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67 De justitia et jure, tract. II, disp. 345, §2. I wish to stress the point that accusations of conspiracy were made against both types of guilds, because there has been a confused controversy on this issue: Kelter, Ernst, “Die Wirtschaftsgesinnung des mittelalterlichen Zünftlers,” Schmollers Jahrbuch für Gesetzgebung, Verwdtung und Volkswirtschaft im Deutschen Reiche, LV 2 (1932), 749–75Google Scholar; Adriaan van Vollenhoven, “Die Wirtschaftsgesinnung des mittelalter-lichen Ziinftlers: eine Kritik,” with rejoinder by Kelter, ibid., LIX (1935), 298–316. Van Vollenhoven errs in assuming that indictments of conspiracy were aimed at only the labor-union type of guild: abundant evidence to the contrary is found in the Italian statutes. Kelter rightly emphasizes that guild policy clashed with municipal policy of abundance and cheapness. Cf. Froese, Ugo, Der Wirtschaftswille im deutschen Hochmitteldter (Giessen, Konrad Triltsch 1936), pp. 47 ffGoogle Scholar.

68 , Clune, Gild System, p. 56. On the antinomy between subsistence and profit motive as the ruling principle of guild policy seeGoogle ScholarLütge, Friedrich, “Die Preispolitik in München im hohen Mittelater; ein Beitrag zum Streit über das Problem ‘Nahrungsprinzip’ oder ‘Erwerbsstreben,”” Jahrbuch für Nationalökonomie und Statistic, CLIII (1941), 162–202Google Scholar.

69 Unwin, George, The Gilds and Companies of London (New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1909), p. 92Google Scholar; Clapham, John, A Concise History of Britain from the Earliest Times to 1750 (Cambridge, Eng.: University Press, 1951), p. 132Google Scholar.

70 Statutes of the Realm: 15 Henry VI, c. 6 (1437); 19 Henry VII, c. 7 (1504); and 22 Henry VIII, c. 4 (1531). Cf. Brentano, Lujo, “On the History and Development of Gilds,” in Smith, Toulmin, ed., English Gilds (London: Early English Text Society, 1870), pp. exxxi, cxl, cxlix, clviiGoogle Scholar.

71 , Kelter, “Wirtschaftsgesinnung,” p. 762Google Scholar.

72 Kelter, Ernst, Geschichte der obrigkeitlichen Preisregelung, I: Die obrigkeitliche Preis-regelung in der Zeit der mittelalterlichen Stadtwirtschaft (Jena: Gustav Fischer, 1935), 34. The title of this book is deceptive; it deals chiefly with CologneGoogle Scholar.

73 Mickwitz, Gunnar, Die Kartelfunktionen der Zünfte und ihre Bedeutung bei der Entstehung des Zunjtwesens (Helsingfors: Centraltryckeriet, 1936), pp. 20 ffGoogle Scholar, Mickwitz also presents evidence relating to England, France, and Germany.

74 Statuti populi et communis Vlorentiae, I (Florence, 1778), 302-3, 426–27: ordinamenta justitiae (1293), rubr. 21 and statuta (1415), lib. 3, rubr. 87Google Scholar.

75 Agnoletti, Anna Maria E., ed., Statute dell'Arte delta Lana di Firenze, 1317–1319 (Florence: Felice Le Monnier, 1940), pp. 114–15: statute of 1317. lib. 2, art. 19Google Scholar; Dorini, Umberto, ed., Statuti dell'Arte di Tor Santa Maria (Florence: Leo S. Olschki, 1934), pp. 153–54:Google Scholar statute of 1335, rubr. 134. To forbid labor unions this statute invokes the brotherhood of men (1) and the right to work; all artificers are free to exercise their craft without any impediment (attribuendo libertatem cuilibet artifici de suo misterio exercendo absque impedimento). This statute was ratified by the Commune to the extent that it contained nothing against (1) the Catholic faith, (2) the usury doctrine, and (3) the antimonopoly legislation (p. 207). The Arte di Calimala or merchants' guild enacted similar provisions against associations of dyers, menders, and finishers. Filippi, Giovanni, L'arte dei mercanti di Calimala in Firenze ed il suo più antico statuto (Turin, 1889), p. p160: statute of 1301. lib. 5, art. 4Google Scholar.

76 , Rodolico, Democrazia fiorentina, pp. 119–20Google Scholar.

77 The text of the indictment is published by Rodolico, Niccolò, Il popolo minuto (Bologna: Zanichelli, 1899), pp. 157–60, No. 14Google Scholar.

78 , Rodolico, Democrazia, pp. 96–104Google Scholar; Sister Mulholland, Mary Ambrose, “Statutes on Cloth-making, Toulouse, 1227,” in Mundy, J. H.et al., eds., Essays in Medieval Life and Thought: presented in Honor of Austin P. Evans (New York: Columbia University Press, 1955), p. 178 (art. 24)Google Scholar.

79 The jurist Phillippe de Beaumanoir (1246-96) declares all leagues among artificers to be illegal: Coutumes de Beauvaisis, I, ch. xxx, art. 884 (Paris: Picard, 1899), 446. This passage is also published inGoogle Scholar, Fagniez, Documents, I, 290Google Scholar.

80 Marez, G. Des, “Les luttes sociales a Bruxelles au Moyen Age,” Revue de I'niversité de Bruxelles, XI (1905-1906), 298Google Scholar.

81 , Rodolico, Democrazia, p. 116Google Scholar.

82 After this paper had been read, Fritz Redlich kindly called my attention to a little-known enactment of Emperor Frederic I (1158) according to which sutlers who sold their wares to the soldiery at a price higher than the one prevailing in the neighboring markets exposed themselves to severe punishment, including confiscation of their merchandise, whipping, and branding with a hot iron on both cheeks. This is a rather drastic way of enforcing competition and preventing price discrimination! MGH, Legum, Sectio IV, I, 241, No. 173, art. 17.