6. Producer's Expenditures
The previous section concentrated on the case of Mr. Brown, whose entire money expenditures
were on consumers' goods. His money income, aside from the sale of old, previously produced
goods, came from the sale of current, productive labor services. His expenditures were purely
The Theory of Money and Credit
Producers of capital goods and consumers goods are in a different position from sellers of
labor service only.
Mr. Brown, for example, a seller solely of labor service, need not spend any money on
purchasing capital goods.
Purely from his expenditure on desired consumers' goods, he derives the energy to be able to
produce and sell labor services on the market.
But the producers of capital goods and consumers' goods, the nub of any civilized society, since
Since labor services alone could produce very little, are not, and cannot be, in such a
fortunate position, for a man to produce a consumer's good, he must obtain labor services
and the services of land and capital goods, in order to use the technological know-how
available in the production of the good.
Pushing the problem back, we find that in order to produce a capital good, the would-be
The producer must obtain the necessary land, labor and capital goods.
Each such individual producer or group of individuals in partnership obtains the required
factors and then directs the combination of factors into producing a capital good.
This process is repeated among numerous individuals until the lowest stage of production is reached
and a consumer's good is produced.
The producer of the capital good must obtain the needed factors, land, labor and capital,
by purchasing them for money, and when the lower order capital good is completed, he
sells it for money.
This capital good is in turn used for the production of a still lower order capital
good, and the latter is sold for money.
This process continues until the final producer of the consumer's good sells it for money
to the ultimate consumer.
Now let us call those producers who use their money to invest in the purchase of factors,
either outright or for hire, capitalists.
The capitalists then produce and own the various stages of capital goods, exchanging them for
for Money until their products reach the consumers.
Those who participate in the productive process are therefore the capitalists
and the sellers of land and labor services.
The capitalists are the only ones who spend money on producers' goods,
and they therefore may here be termed the producers.
It is evident that a dominant characteristic of the production process is that
Each individual must produce in anticipation of the sale of his product.
Any investment in production is made in anticipation of later sale to lower order producers and,
finally, to consumers.
Clearly, the consumer must have money in his cash balance in order to spend it on consumers'
and, likewise, the producer must have the original money to invest in factors.
Where does the consumer get the money?
As has been shown above, he may obtain it from gifts or from the sale of previously produced goods,
but in the last analysis he must have obtained it from the sale of some productive service.
These are the sellers of labor services and of the services of land.
These laborers and landowners use the money thus obtained to buy the final products of the production system.
The capitalist producers also receive income at each stage of the production process.
Evidently, the principles regulating these incomes require careful investigation, which will be undertaken.
Here it might be noted that the net incomes accruing to the owners of capital goods are not simply the results of the contribution to production by the capital goods, since these capital goods are in turn the products of other factors.
Where then do the producers acquire their money for investment?
Clearly from the same sources only. From the income acquired in production, individuals can, in addition to buying consumers' goods, purchase factors of production and engage in the productive process as producers of a good that is not simply their own labor service.
In order to obtain the money for investment then, an individual must save money by restricting his possible consumption expenditures.
This saved money first goes into his cash balance and then is invested in the purchase of factors in the anticipation of a later sale of the produced good.
It is obvious that investment can come only from funds that are saved by individuals from their possible consumption spending.
The producers restrict their consumption expenditures, save their money and go into business by investing their funds in factors that will yield them products in the future.
Producers could also borrow the saved funds of others, but the whole process of lending and borrowing is omitted in this section in order to clarify the analysis. Loans will be analyzed in a later chapter.
Thus, while every man must spend part of his money income in consumption, some decide to
become producers of capital or consumers' goods, and to save money to invest in the
required factors.
Every person's income may be spent on consumption, on investment in the production of goods,
or on an addition to his cash balance.
For any period an individual's money income equals his consumption expenditures plus investment
expenditures plus additions to cash balance minus subtractions from cash balance.
Investment expenditures may be defined as the sum of the money expenditures made in
investment in factors of production.
Let us take the hypothetical case of Mr. Fred Jones and his balance of payments for November
1961.
Suppose his income from various sources during this month is 50 ounces.
He decides to spend, during the month, 18 ounces on consumers' goods, to add 2 ounces
to his cash balance, and to invest the other 30 ounces in a business for the production
of some good.
It must be emphasized that this business can involve the production of any good at all.
It could be a steel factory, a farm, or a retail shoe store.
It could be for the purchase of wheat in one season of the year in anticipation of sale
in another season.
All of this is productive enterprise, since in each instance a good is produced.
Let us assume that Jones expends the saved funds on investment in a paper factory.
His income expenditure account for November may appear as follows.
November 1961, Fred Jones Income from sale of land, 20 oz.
From sale of a building, 30 oz.
Total, 50 oz.
Expenditures Food, 7 oz.
Clothing, 4 oz.
Shelter, 4 oz.
Entertainment, 3 oz.
Investment Expenditures, 18 oz. On Paper Machinery, 12 oz. On Wood Pulp, 10 oz. On
Labor Services, 8 oz. Investment Expenditures, 30 oz. Addition to Cash Balance, 2 oz. Total,
50 oz.
Of course, these figures are purely illustrative of a possible situation. There are innumerable
and several other illustrations, for example, there could have been a subtraction from cash balance to enable greater investment.
Investment expenditures are always made in anticipation of future sale.
Factors are purchased and transformed into the product and the product is then sold by the enterpriser for money.
The businessman makes his outlays with the expectation of being able to sell the product at a certain price on a certain future date.
Suppose that Jones makes the investment of 30 ounces with the expectation of being able to transform his factors into the product, in this case, paper, and sell the product for 40 ounces at some date in November 1962.
If his expectation proves correct, he will succeed in selling the paper for 40 ounces at that date, and his income account for any period that includes that date in November 1962 will include 40 ounces from sale of paper.
It is obvious that other things being equal, an investor will attempt to acquire the greatest
possible net income from his investment, just as, with the same qualification, everyone
attempts to acquire the greatest income from other types of sales.
If Jones is confronted with investment opportunities for his 30 ounces in different possible lines
Jones or processes of production and he expects one will net him 40 ounces in a year, another
37 ounces, another 34, etc.
Jones will choose that investment promising the greatest return.
A crucial difference then between man as an entrepreneur and man as a consumer is that
in the latter case there is no drive to have exports greater than imports.
A man's imports are his purchase of consumers' goods, and are therefore the ends of his activity.
The goods he imports are a source of satisfaction to him.
On the other hand, the businessman is importing only producers' goods, which by definition
are useless to him directly.
He can gain from them only by selling them or their product, and therefore his imports
Imports are merely the necessary means to his later exports.
Therefore he tries to attain the greatest net income, or in other words, to attain the
largest surplus of exports over imports.
The larger his business income, the more the owner of the business will be able to spend,
that is, to import, on consumers' goods that he desires.
It is clear, however, that the man considered as a whole has no particular desire to export
more than he imports or to have a favorable balance of trade.
He tries to export more than he imports of producers' goods in his business.
Then he uses this surplus to spend on imports of consumers' goods for his personal wants.
On total balance, he may, like Mr. Brown, choose to add to his cash balance or subtract
from his cash balance, as he sees fit and considers most desirable.
It was partly confusion between the total action of the individual and his action as
a businessman that led writers to extrapolate from the behavior of the businessman and conclude
that nations are better off if they export more than they import.
Let us take as an example Mr. Jones after he has been established in his business.
Over a certain period he may decide to subtract five ounces from his cash balance even though
he tries his best to achieve the largest net income from business and thus add to his cash
Fred Jones, Income from Business 150 oz. Expenditures in Business on Factors of Production, Producers' Goods 100 oz. For Consumers' Goods 55 oz. Total Expenditures 155 oz. Subtracts 100 oz.
Fraction from Cash Balance, 5 oz.