Faustino Ballve - Essentials of Economics

Essentials of Economics

A BRIEF SURVEY OF PRINCIPLES AND POLICIES

by

FAUSTINO BALLV

Translated from the Spanish and Edited by

ARTHUR GODDARD

D. VAN NOSTRAND COMPANY, INC.

PRINCETON, NEW JERSEY

NEW YORK

D. VAN NOSTRAND COMPANY, INC.
120 Alexander St., Princeton, New Jersey (Principal office)
24 West 40 Street, New York 18, New York

D. VAN NOSTRAND COMPANY (Canada), LTD.
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D. VAN NOSTRAND COMPANY LTD.
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Copyright, 1963 by
WILLIAM VOLKER FUND

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Published simultaneously in Canada by
D. VAN NOSTRAND COMPANY (Canada), LTD.

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No reproduction in any form of this book, in whole or in part (except for brief quotation in critical articles or reviews), may be made without written authorization from the publishers.

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1st edition, Mexico, 195610,000 copies

2nd edition, Mexico, 19615,000 copies

3rd edition, Mexico, 19615,000 copies

French translation, Paris, Slif, 1957

Spanish editions in Buenos Aires and Guatemala and in preparation in Colombia

Translations in preparation in Germany, Brazil, and Japan

PRINTED IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

Foreword

Faustino Ballv was one of those rare scholars who instinctively avoid the pitfalls of specialization; who have the gift of integrating the divisions of learning simply, yet without oversimplification. This was the talent that gave the leaders of the Renaissance their stature. Of Professor Ballv it could be said, as in the characterization that gives a contemporary play about Sir Thomas More its title, that he was indeed a Man for All Seasons.

Like Erasmus before him, Professor Ballv spoke not for any narrow, nationalistic culture, but for the spirit of Western Civilization as a whole. Born in Barcelona, in 1887, he trained first as a lawyer, took his doctorate in Madrid, and then proceeded for further study first to Berlin and then to London. It was in England that, with a seasoned juristic background, he first specialized in the study of economics.

The practitioners of that science, whether of the left or the right, have done all too much to justify the adjective dismal that was applied to it in Ballvs youth. The more credit to him for bringing to the subject not only the clarity and precision of a first-class legal mind, but also the spiritual warmth of a political idealist.

While still in his teens the young Ballv had edited a republican paper, and in the stormy thirties, as the clouds of civil war closed over Spain, he was elected a deputy of that party. But there was no place for this true liberal when the struggle degenerated into a power contest between Fascism and Communism. Leaving his native land forever, Ballv went first to France and then to Mexico, where he acquired citizenship in 1943 and lived until his death in 1959.

In Mexico City, in addition to the active practice of law, Dr. Ballv soon took over two professorial chairsof law and of economics. In both fields his interest was always in the underlying values. He never viewed either law or economics as self-supporting subjects, or suggested that they could be made so by pseudoscientific techniques. He was no positivist, but, in both fields, an exponent of classical liberalism at its best.

It is the depth of the authors personal philosophy, plus the unusually luminous quality of his thought, that makes his Essentials of Economics, for all its brevity, an outstanding book. Originally written in Spanish, as Diez lecciones de economa, then published in French as Lconomie vivante, it appears now for the first time in an English edition. The general reader, who may have been alienated by pretentious texts on economics, will soon see for himself how quickly, cleanly, and clearly Professor Ballv reaches the heart of his subject.

Moreover, something of the warmth and cheerfulness of the authors personality comes through, to make the reader feel that he is listening to the conversation of an old and cherished friend. In his lifetime, unfortunately, Dr. Ballv was not as well known in this country as in Europe and Latin America. That has been our loss, now compensated by this translation of a study encouraging to all who fear that western man no longer has the individual stature to meet the challenge of our times.

Felix Morley

Preface to the
English-Language Edition

In his preface, included here in translation, to the original Mexican edition of this book, Sr. Lic. Gustavo R. Velasco, himself a distinguished scholar in both law and economics, as well as an accomplished linguist, points out that elementary introductions to economic science comparable in clarity, authoritativeness, and simplicity to Sr. Ballvs work are exceedingly rare, not only in Spanish, but also in other languages. And, indeed, within a year of its publication, a French translation by M. Raoul Audoin made its appearance to fill the need of readers of that language in Continental Europe, where the book soon received the acclaim it deserved.

Certainly the same need exists in English and has existed for some time. There are, to be sure, a number of excellent treatises on economics, some of them rather voluminous, which expound the subject with an exhaustiveness that should satisfy the most demanding student. But when one looks for simpler and briefer presentations, designed, not for specialists, but for the average educated person who seeks enlightenment in regard to the economic questions underlying the great issues of our day, there is little to be found that is altogether satisfactory. No doubt those who have taken the pains to acquire a thorough knowledge of economics may say that there really is no substitute for the consummate understanding that only the study of the works of the masters in this field can provide; anything else is necessarily superficial at best and is likely to be open to sophisticated criticism. This much may be granted. But the gap between the erudition of the scholarsa relatively small group, whose primary influence is in the classroom and the lecture halland the ignorance, not to say prejudices, of even otherwise well-educated men and women who have not specialized in economic science, has not been left a vacuum. There is no dearth of pamphlets and popular books in which inveterate errors and fallacies long since refuted continue to be given currency. As for the textbooks used in the secondary schools and the colleges, besides being often dull and pedantic, they fail, in many instances, to reflect the present state of economic science, deal with much that is strictly irrelevant to it, and are, in any case, unsuited to the requirements of the citizen who wishes to inform himself accurately concerning the essentials of that subject so that he may have a well-founded, rationally defensible opinion concerning the consequences to be expected from the various proposed policies open to his choice in his capacity as a voter in a democracy.

It was chiefly for this type of reader that the ten lessons in economics here presented were intended. The peculiar merit of this book is its combination of brevity, readability, and accuracy. Here the reader will find, within the compass of a few short chapters, a synoptic survey of the essential principles of economics and an application of them in the critique of popular doctrines and policies, the whole illustrated with apt historical references and supported by solid learning. This unusual blend of pedagogic skill and sound scholarship gives the work its unique character and makes it ideally suited to fill a need that has, up to now, been left, for the most part, unsatisfied. Its translation into English will have been justified if it helps to clear up some of the grave misunderstanding and confusion that infect much of the popular discussion of economic questions and to correct the faulty opinions that currently constitute the main obstacle to the diffusion of prosperity and well-being.