Marshall on wealth, collective & individual

From [amazon_link id=”B00882NQLM” target=”_blank” ]The Economics of Industry[/amazon_link]:

“We still have to take account of those of a man’s goods which are common to him and his neighbours… They consist of the benefits which he derives from being a member of a certain state or community. They include civil and military security, and the right and opportunity to make use of public property and institutions of all kinds such as roads & gaslight; and they include rights to justice and a free education &c. … Other things being equal, one person has more real wealth in the broadest sense than another if the place in which the former lives has better roads, better water and more wholesome drainage, and cheaper and better newspapers and places of amusement and instruction.

“Many of these things are collective goods i.e. goods which are not in private ownership. And this brings us to consider wealth from the social as well as the individual point of view.”

[amazon_image id=”129496819X” link=”true” target=”_blank” size=”medium” ]The Economics of Industry, by Alfred Marshall and Mary Paley Marshall – Scholar’s Choice Edition[/amazon_image]

As I dip into this book each evening, it becomes ever more apparent how much is in there.