Changes

====Marx's personal economy====

====Marx's personal economy====

Marx's youthful bacchanalia seem to have been riotously expensive; while he was still a student, there emerged what was to become a dominant theme of his life: his "grotesque incompetence"<ref>Paul Johnson, ''[http://books.google.com/books?id=GTqHpZech0YC Intellectuals: From Marx and Tolstoy to Sartre and Chomsky]'' (HarperCollins, 2007) ISBN 0061253170), p. 73</ref>  in real-world economics.<ref>The word "economics" is used here in the original sense of household management, administration or stewardship. M. M. Austin and Pierre Vidal-Naquet, ''[http://books.google.com/books?id=ekqCOGr1_NAC Economic and social history of ancient Greece: an introduction]'' (University of California Press, 1980) ISBN 0520042670, p. 162</ref> On this score, the letters of Marx's long-suffering father tell a sorry tale:

Marx's youthful bacchanalia seem to have been ruinously expensive; while he was still a student, there emerged what was to become a dominant theme of his life: his "grotesque incompetence"<ref>Paul Johnson, ''[http://books.google.com/books?id=GTqHpZech0YC Intellectuals: From Marx and Tolstoy to Sartre and Chomsky]'' (HarperCollins, 2007) ISBN 0061253170), p. 73</ref>  in real-world economics.<ref>The word "economics" is used here in the original sense of household management, administration or stewardship. M. M. Austin and Pierre Vidal-Naquet, ''[http://books.google.com/books?id=ekqCOGr1_NAC Economic and social history of ancient Greece: an introduction]'' (University of California Press, 1980) ISBN 0520042670, p. 162</ref> On this score, the letters of Marx's long-suffering father tell a sorry tale:

* “Your accounts, dear Karl, are... disconnected and inconclusive. If only they had been shorter and more precise, and the figures properly set out in columns, the operation would have been very simple. One expects order even from a scholar, and especially from a practical lawyer.... I enclose a money order for 50 talers [equivalent to approximately $900 today]...”<ref>[http://www.marxists.org/archive/marx/letters/papa/1836-fl1.htm Letter from Heinrich Marx to son Karl], 1836, in Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels, ''[http://www.marxists.org/archive/marx/works/cw/ Collected Works]'' (Moscow: Progress Publishers, 1975), [http://www.marxists.org/archive/marx/works/cw/volume01/index.htm Vol. I] (Trans. Robert Dixon), pp. 648-652. A Prussian taler or thaler (whence we get the word "dollar") was ~16.7 grams (about 0.6 ounces) of silver. At the current price of ~$30 per ounce, each taler would therefore be worth ~$18 today, so 50 talers would be worth ~$900.</ref>

* “Your accounts, dear Karl, are... disconnected and inconclusive. If only they had been shorter and more precise, and the figures properly set out in columns, the operation would have been very simple. One expects order even from a scholar, and especially from a practical lawyer.... I enclose a money order for 50 talers [equivalent to approximately $900 today]...”<ref>[http://www.marxists.org/archive/marx/letters/papa/1836-fl1.htm Letter from Heinrich Marx to son Karl], 1836, in Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels, ''[http://www.marxists.org/archive/marx/works/cw/ Collected Works]'' (Moscow: Progress Publishers, 1975), [http://www.marxists.org/archive/marx/works/cw/volume01/index.htm Vol. I] (Trans. Robert Dixon), pp. 648-652. A Prussian taler or thaler (whence we get the word "dollar") was ~16.7 grams (about 0.6 ounces) of silver. At the current price of ~$30 per ounce, each taler would therefore be worth ~$18 today, so 50 talers would be worth ~$900.</ref>

* “I sent... 50 talers. With what you took with you, that makes 160 talers [~$2,880].... I am convinced that it is possible to manage with less... But no more under any condition... I enclose a draft on... the lottery office in the university building; you will get money there, as m[uch as] you need.”<ref>[http://www.marxists.org/archive/marx/letters/papa/1836-fl2.htm Letter from Heinrich Marx to son Karl], March 18, 1836, in Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels, ''[http://www.marxists.org/archive/marx/works/cw/ Collected Works]'' (Moscow: Progress Publishers, 1975), [http://www.marxists.org/archive/marx/works/cw/volume01/index.htm Vol. I] (Trans. Robert Dixon), pp. 652-653</ref>

* “I sent... 50 talers. With what you took with you, that makes 160 talers [~$2,880].... I am convinced that it is possible to manage with less... But no more under any condition... I enclose a draft on... the lottery office in the university building; you will get money there, as m[uch as] you need.”<ref>[http://www.marxists.org/archive/marx/letters/papa/1836-fl2.htm Letter from Heinrich Marx to son Karl], March 18, 1836, in Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels, ''[http://www.marxists.org/archive/marx/works/cw/ Collected Works]'' (Moscow: Progress Publishers, 1975), [http://www.marxists.org/archive/marx/works/cw/volume01/index.htm Vol. I] (Trans. Robert Dixon), pp. 652-653</ref>