Page:Malthus 1823 The Measure of Value.djvu/52

 will make the natural value of the produce equal to 11.53. But if corn, notwithstanding the fertility of the soil, be only supplied in such quantities, compared with labour, as to award the labourer no more than ten quarters, the rate of profits, instead of 15.38 percent., will be 50 per cent., and the value of the produce, instead of being 11.53, will be 15.

This shows how greatly the natural value of commodities depends upon the average state of the demand and supply, and completely confirms the position in my last work, that the only difference between natural and market prices is, that the former are regulated by the average and ordinary relations of the demand to the supply, and the latter, when they differ from the former, upon the accidental and extraordinary relations of the demand to the supply.

Fifthly, it follows, from the constant value of labour, that,

Given the value of money in different countries, the natural prices of commodities, in which the same quantities of labour have been employed, will depend upon the rate and quantity of profits.

Given the rate and quantity of profits, and the value of money, the natural prices of com modities in different countries will depend